South Africa thrash England 45-21 with opening blitz
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- South Africa ran in three tries in the opening 11 minutes through Thomas du Toit, Cheslin Kolbe and Kurt-Lee Arendse, with Ox Nche's rampage through Ollie Chessum and Jamie George setting the brutally chastening tone in the 45-21 win.
- England trailed 28-7 at half-time after Ellis Genge and George Martin briefly cut the deficit to three, but Paul Grayson told BBC Radio 5 Live the second half was 'hardly a contest' as the Springboks pulled clear.
- England conceded 13 penalties and finished with Freeman and replacement Guy Pepper in the sin-bin, ending the match at Johannesburg (1,753m above sea level) down to 13 men for the final eight minutes as their losing streak stretched to five.
- Steve Borthwick shifted Marcus Smith to full-back after George Furbank's late withdrawal and kept Tommy Freeman at outside centre, with Damian Willemse repeatedly exploiting the unsettled aerial defence.
- South Africa were missing eight frontline players — captain Siya Kolisi, Eben Etzebeth, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Franco Mostert, Lood de Jager, RG Snyman, Kwagga Smith and Frans Malherbe — yet still produced their trademark forward dominance.
- Henry Slade's kamikaze angled run and mispass set up Alex Coles for England's third try, one of a handful of attacking bright spots in an otherwise chastening outing for Borthwick's side.
Why it matters: Borthwick's England now face Fiji and Argentina carrying a five-match losing streak, with Grayson warning 'the storm clouds are gathering again' if they cannot beat Fiji next weekend — putting the Rugby Football Union's World Cup backing for their head coach under fresh scrutiny regardless of how high the Springboks set the bar.
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