Battling Boks bounce back
By Ben Blackmore
Last Updated: 01/01/70 1:00am
Andre Pretorious kicked four drop goals at South Africa gained revenge on England.
South Africa gained revenge for last week's defeat by beating England 25-14 to end a run of seven straight defeats at the hands of the world champions.
Andre Pretorious kicked a record four drop goals in addition to CJ van der Linde's first half try, handing the Springboks a deserved win after a strong second half display.
Acting as the sequel to last week's England victory, this double-header became the 'Rocky II' of international rugby as the script followed an almost identical plot - only with a different outcome.
Two sides struggling for a knock-out blow in attack relied on sheer grit to see them through, the Springboks growing as a force as the contest went on to claim victory.
For England boss Andy Robinson, serious question marks hang over his future, after another performance that showed little cohesion just 11 months from the World Cup.
Robinson had opted for a settled backline before the match, hoping his faith would be repaid with the kind of attacking harmony scarcely seen at Twickenham since the days of Will Greenwood, Jason Robinson and co. It did not work.
South Africa, by contrast, made a couple of key changes - calling up the highly-rated Kabamba Floors at blindside flanker, while Pretorious significantly replaced the injured Butch James at stand-off.
England had stated their intention to spread the ball wide in the pre-match build-up, and the very first pass to winger Mark Cueto yielded the opening three points of the match, Andy Goode kicking a penalty after the Springboks came in at the side.
After falling 18-6 behind in last week's Test, the England boss would have buoyed by a much more controlled start this time, Goode quickly making it 6-0 thanks to good work from Peter Richards and his forwards.
For brief spells it seemed to be the England of old as 1-10 worked in tandem, turning possession into regular points, however, their good work up to the 22 was not matched by their variation in it, allowing South Africa to halve the deficit through a sweetly-struck Pretorious drop goal.
Goode quickly restored the six-point advantage with his third penalty, but frustration continued to build for the hosts, who never looked like converting long spells of possession into tries.
If England were lacking attacking harmony South Africa seemed devoid of any real cohesion at all in the opening quarter, suffering on their own line-out against the impressive Tom Palmer.
One felt England simply had to make a breakthrough from all their territorial prowess, and they did just that on 30 minutes, Cueto once again proving himself the Ruud van Nistlerooy of international rugby with his 13th Test try.
After Martin Corry had came within a whisker of sending Ben Cohen over on the left, Goode switched the play left with a hanging diagonal kick, which eventually found its way to the predatory Cueto a yard out after good work from Tait.
However, the score only served to wake the Springboks and send England into an early half-time slumber, twice shooting themselves in the foot before the break, gifting two penalties to the visitors - Pretorius the grateful recipient.
South Africa could sense the lack of focus in the England camp, and after Phil Vickery's superb defensive efforts held Jean de Villiers up over the English whitewash, the Springboks were rewarded for their greater attacking edge with Van der Linde's score.
Working from a five-yard scrum, Enrico Januarie dragged the England defence right, before the ball was sharply moved in the other direction to allow the prop to crash past the helpless Lewsey for a 16-14 lead.
Robinson's worry at the interval would undoubtedly have been South Africa's greater cut and thrust, despite seeing far less of the ball than the world champions.
De Villiers in particular seemed to be able to pick the lock at will, and his early second-half break sparked a much-improved performance from the tourists.
Pretorious' second drop goal took the score to 19-14, forcing England to come from behind for the second time in eight days.
The greater problem was the lack of territorial control now being shown by the hosts, whose dominance of the tight areas in the first half had subsided to Juan Smith, Danie Rossouw and co.
Suddenly, England were forced to rely on long-distance penalties from Goode, who twice missed from close to the half-way line.
The Springboks were giving their opponents a helping hand by conceding a rash of unnecessary penalties, and they nearly paid for it on the hour as Cueto came within fingertips of his second score.
Leaping for the cross-field kick once more, Cueto donned his Michael Jordan boots to rise above full-back Francois Steyn, only to spill the ball within inches of the ground.
It was a costly miss as England continued to struggle in attack, failing to support the ball-carrier with frustrating inadequacy.
With 15 minutes remaining, the contest had become a repeat of last week's contest, England's uncoordinated attack jabbing away at the rapidly-retreating Springbok defence.
Lee Mears went as close as Cueto had done previously with a one-two at the line-out, but it was a rare threat in a toothless display.
South Africa always knew one more swing of Pretorious' boot would wrap things up, and he nailed two more drop goals late on to hand the Springboks a deserved victory.
