South Africa v England: Nations Championship rugby union – live

Key events

TRY! South Africa 38-21 England (Marx, 74)

Mauled over! Marx find his target at the line-out then joins his mates to rumble over the English pack. “An alpha test” as Flatman calls it and SA are flexing. Kolbe converts and now there’s daylight between the sides. Just pure power. England are wilting.

Yellow card! England (Pepper, 73)

Another high tackle and another England player goes in the bin! Is that the game? It’s bang in front but Libbok kicks to the corner.

72 min: SA line-out on England’s 22. Marx throws and gets it back. Dixon carries. Wessells does likewise. Porthen makes ground and they have a penalty advantage on the 22. England could be in trouble here.

Yellow card (bunker)! England (Freeman, 71)

Not what England needed but there can be no argument! Willemse gathered a high kick and Freeman came screaming up. He never stooped and met Willemse’s head with his shoulder. He might be in trouble here actually. They’ll review. Could be a red. 50/50 for me.

71 min: Freeman melts Willemse but it always looked a touch high. It’s a penalty, but is it also a yellow card?

TRY! South Africa 31-21 England (Coles, 69)

A glimmer of hope! Off the line-out, they hammer the line at pace. Slade then scythes from midfield against the grain and almost slices his way through himself after collecting a perfect Mitchell pass. That takes them within a metre and Cole picks and goes over. Smith converts. 10 points. They need two scores. They couldn’t. Could they?

Alex Coles powers over to score. Photograph: Waldo Swiegers/Shutterstock

67 min: England are camped inside the Boks’ 22. Pace is good. Pepper runs hard. Then Pollock, to the sound of boos. Opoku-Fordjour carries. They have the advantage but can’t make it work. So they have the penalty pretty much bang in front about 20 metres short. It’s kicked out to the right corner. England will try claw their way back off a line-out.

65 min: A scrappy, and frankly boring, passage ends with Slade finding M Smith who kicks into space. Willemse gathers and then sends it out beyond halfway. Esterhuizen, the man who starred for Quins in midfield, is on in the back row, replacing Wiese.

62 min: Pollock is on. Williams kicks high and SA almost win it back. Mitchell kicks and Willemse gathers. He has been outstanding today. SA with the ball on halfway and Williams kicks high. Kolbe chases but England come away with it. Mitchell kicks and Willemse runs it back this time. Libbok hangs in the pocket and hangs a kick down the left touch. Can you tell the game has settled on a particular pattern?

60 min: South Africa win their first scrum penalty of the match! Is this the moment the tide turns ar set piece. So far England have had parity. Libbok can’t find touch, he was greedy looking for extra ground. Freeman did brilliantly there. Libbok returns the Mitchell kick and England are attacking inside their own half down the left with F Smith pulling strings.

59 min: South Africa’s blitz defence is causing problems for England. The visitors get away with another break as a floated pass is almost picked by Kriel on halfway. He read it perfectly and got two hands up, but couldn’t hold on. Scrum to England just inside South Africa’s patch, slightly closer to the right touch.

TRY! South Africa 31-14 England (Kriel, 58)

That was too easy for South Africa! But that’s only because Willemse is just an absolute gun! Everything he touches turns to gold. It started off the line-out and a huge drive from the forwards. Then de Allende straightened the attack. Porthen and Wiese too. It was going nowhere until Willemse joined the line, stepped, wriggled and found the perfect pass to spark a move down the left. When it got to Kriel, he simply had to run it over. Kolbe lands the conversion to create some breathing room.

Jesse Kriel touches down a fifth try for the home side. Photograph: Nations Championship/Getty Images

56 min: The game has become a little scrappy now. Another penalty against England for taking out a Bok int he air gives Libbok the chance to kick to the corner. It’s not a very good kick so this line-out will take place on England’s 22.

54 min: A lovely touch from Libbok who delays his pass and then off-loads, one-handed, under-arm for Kolbe to his right. Kolbe’s kick is poor and bobbles out of touch inside England’s 22. Good from the Boks there with PS du Toit also involved from a line-out that took them to England’s red zone. But the visitors clear well.

Slade is on at 13, Freeman shifted to wing, Fayi-Yaboso is on the right wing. Murley is gone, as is JvP for Mitchell. Cowan-Dickie is on for George.

52 min: My word, what a take that is from Fai-Waboso in the air, leaping ahead of Arendse to win the ball back for his side. A bit of kick tennis now. Both scrum-halves hoisting it high. Murley gives away a penalty from one, though, as he takes out Kolbe in the air. No ill intent. But that was a little reckless.

50 min: JvP knocks-on off the top of a line-out, following SA’s clearance from the scrum inside their own 22. So SA will get another scrum and a chance to get down the field. This set piece, which now includse young Porthen, is inside SA territory, to the left. Dixon and van Staaden on too.

49 min: Smith almost scores! He found a gap and was through. Could he pass for Atkinson to his right? Could he hold on? Neither. SA survive after great work from England following a sound maul and some stiff carries. Martin is having a great game. England are not going away. They leave this visit to the Boks’ 22 with nothing, but that was super close.

47 min: England get a chance to reply as Nortje gives away a penalty from the restart. F Smith nudges it to the corner on the left.

TRY! South Africa 24-14 England (Williams, 46)

Finally! The pressure was immense. What was that, about 25 phases? Huge carries from the forwards then Williams flings to Libbok who finds Kriel who finds Arendse. he’s well tackled by Murley and SA almost lose it, but they keep hold of it until Williams, at the back of a ruck, spots a gap and snipes through. This conversion is good, made easier by Williams running closer to the poles. That is world class scrum-half play from one of the quickest rugby players on the planet.

Grant Williams escapes to re-establish South Africa’s dominance. Photograph: Phill Magakoe/AFP/Getty Images

44 min: England’s defence is holding. They’ve pushed the Boks back a touch. Those carries are looking leggy until Willemse wriggles through a half gap. But he’s held. 15 phases…

43 min: Libbok kicks a little closer to the corner on the right. Big line-out this. They go to the bacl where Hanekom wins it. Wiese makes a great carry. Hanekom again. PS du Toit. They’re five out. Wiese again. Hanekom again. Du Toit again. Phew, how many of them are there? But England hold…

41 min: Early penalty after a high kick becomes a scrap on the floor. Wiese with the turnover. Libbok to hoof it out back in England’s patch. The SA line-out was a little creaky. Let’s see how this one, just short of the 22, goes. Nortje rises and gathers and the Boks maul then win a penalty.

Second half

They’re back.

Momentum with England but South Africa with the narrow lead.

F Smith to kick off. Who will handle the altitude best?

Some emails.

“Why on earth is Borthwick still in charge?” asks Joshua Keeling. I don’t know, three down at half time to the world champions at their spiritual home doesn’t seem so bad.

And Craig Thomas:

“Shame for Fiji? No credit for Wales turning around their abysmal recent record and winning against a star-studded Fijian XV?

”As for the venue, this ‘malarkey’ won’t be sorted out for next year, or the year after.
Fiji is using the revenue from these away ‘home’ games to build a new stadium, which is scheduled for a 2030 completion.

”Sadly, the Pacific Island nations still get the shitty end of the World Rugby stick and have to do things like playing home games on the other side of the world in order to achieve any kind of financial parity. Oceans Apart, the 2020 documentary, showed how they are still second-class citizens in the game. Unlike football - where we’re seeing the fruits of investing in underdeveloped nations in the expanded World Cup - rugby isn’t very good at sharing the spoils of its big events.”

Fair enough. Credit to Wales.

Half-time: South Africa 17-14 England

A half of two halves. South Africa were so dominant that it seemed as if they’d score a million. But England held firm and eventually started throwing some punches of their own and head into the sheds within touching distance of the world champs.

TRY! South Africa 17-14 England (Martin, 40+2)

England are right back in this! Off the line-out they probe the midfield before going back towards the blind where Martin steamrolls Wiese! That is a meaty carry that will surely cause the seismologist a problem. F Smith slots the extras and it’s only a three point game!

England lock George Martin goes over to score! Photograph: Phill Magakoe/AFP/Getty Images

40+1 min: F Smith rakes a wonder 50/22. That is excellent! England will have a chance to close the gap. As much as SA dominated the first 20 minutes, I have to say that England have been the better team in this second quarter.

40 min: We’ll end with a scrum on halfway away to England’s right touch after Williams knocks on as he read JvP’s floated pass. How did he not catch that? If he had he would surely have ran away for a try.

38 min: De Villiers gives away a penalty inside England’s 22. Fayi-Waboso ran back to field a Williams box that was ltoo long but he spilled it backwards. That meant M Smith had to mop up and he did brilliantly finding space and pointing back in the right direction. De Villiers came running in and lost his feet as he went for the steal.

TRY! South Africa 17-7 England (Genge, 36)

Ellis Genge reduces the deficit. Photograph: Waldo Swiegers/Shutterstock

36 min: England get a penalty five short of the line…

33 min: Chessum pinches a South African line-out, getting in front of PS du Toit. Atkinson then pins a kick down in the opposite corner, forcing the Boks to once again clear from their own 22.

Marx goes over the top at the line-out – how brave from inside his 22 – and Libbok hoofs it out to halfway.

This is solid work from the team with 14 men. Controlled. Not panicky.