The Boks beat England 42 – 39 after trailing 24 – 3 after the first 20 minutes, a comeback that will put a smile on every single Springbok supporter out there.
It was close in the end, the Boks allowing England to come back into the game themselves, but a win is a win, especially from the position they were in early on. Coach Rassie Erasmus admitted that he made a tactical error in thinking England would kick more, and once he realised the defence ran to narrowly, they team adjusted and things went better.
That alone is a massive step in the right direction. A team that can adapt to what is going on in front of them, is a team that can come back from situations like the Boks found themselves in. Credit firstly to Rassie Erasmus for admitting his error, but most credit should go to the team, both the experienced players as well as the new guys. The experienced guys stepped up and lead the team to victory while the new guys didn’t panic and themselves took a step up and came through. Both wings in particular played really well.
I feel the overseas based Boks really added value, and if this is what we can expect from the players coming back from abroad, I back the decision to include them wholeheartedly. Faf de Klerk was a revelation at the back of the scrum/maul, his service was quick and accurate and he was a beast on defence. Duane Vermeulen was his usual aggressive self, winning plenty of turnovers and being the first man at the breakdown. At the back, Willie le Roux added composure with a mix of attacking flair and was involved in almost all of the first half tries.
Looking ahead at the second test, Erasmus has reduced his squad, allowing Ox Nche, Jason Jenkins, Kwagga Smith, Nizaam Carr, Travis Ismaiel, Curwin Bosch and Cameron Wright to return to their respective franchises. Furthermore, Trevor Nyakane has been withdrawn from the group, a rib injury ruling him out of action.
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Well done Bokke!
Whew, that was a game and a half, very enetertaining with the Boks both showing lots of spirit to came back and stay in the game.
One observation, and this is not to detract form the great win by the Boks at all, is that I think the ref (for once) heavily favoured us in marginal calls.
Rich already said it, but it’s a point I’ve highlighted before. The most pleasing thing was that our players adapted to England’s tactics and found a way to win. It was a brilliant game.
I though that England were poor apart from opening and closing 10min spells. Bok scrum did well but lineout only really functioned once PSDT came on.
What was evident was that England are very dangerous if we give their wide players any space. Up the middle they arent too flash though
Good performance by the Boks.
If I was England Iād be worried.
A settled and experienced Eng team up against a very inexperienced side. New coach, new combos all over the park. You go 24-3 up and then lose. Embarrasing.
That was the 2nd biggest comeback from a tier 1 nation ever.
@McLovin (Comment 6) : Which is the biggest?
@McLovin (Comment 6) : England needs to be worried, hell they lost their last 3 six nations games, including to Scotland and France and then the game against the Baa Baas. Those results alone should be way more worrying than losing by 3 to the Boks on the highveldt in Johannesburg. Its now 5 in a row – they should be worried and we should keep our foot firmly on their throat in Bloem and Cpt, it will do wonders to demoralise them for the year to come while building our self confidence for our run to the world cup.
Barring any injury enforced changes i cant see Rassie changing the side for the next test. I do have a feeling PSDT and JL Dupreez could swap though
@StevieS (Comment 7) : Wales v Arg in 1999. Not sure about the exact numbers.
Wales won 36 – 26.
@McLovin (Comment 10) : Great, thanks š
@McLovin (Comment 10) : Argies were 23-0 up at one point.
And another thing.
Why wasn’t Itoje penalised for his late tackles and cited for a late shoulder charge on Faf? šæ
Is WP Nel eligible for sctotland this WC?
@coolfusion (Comment 14) : Life long Scot he is.