In a game strewn with errors from the visitors they were perhaps lucky to have been as close as they were. Here’s how they performed.

15. Willie Le Roux 6
Some very loose kicks cost his team a considerable amount of territory got turned over a couple of times but took some kicks well under considerable pressure and finished his consolation try well.

14. Ruan Combrinck 6.5
Physical and powerful but failed to control the kick that led to the Lawes try. After some poor kicks from Goosen took over kicking duties and did well.

13. Francois Venter 6.5
Got caught out defensively for May’s try as he over committed to Daly’s dummy line but made some nice passes (forward or not) and made some good yards.

12. Damien De Allende 7
Did what he does well with some powerful direct running especially that carry from over the top of the lineout which will be imprinted on Ford’s memory. Defended well driving Daly back in two man tackles on several occasions.

11. JP Pieterson 5.5
A knock on under the high ball led to England’s field position for their first try, he was very lucky not to be called up for a forward pass in his own 22, got turned over twice and had a few moments of poor decision making.

10. Pat Lambie 6
Kept the scoreboard ticking over early on with some cleanly struck penalties and a slightly awkward looking yet effective drop goal, but also responsible for the misguided hand that allowed Lawes’ try to stand. He was charged down once and his accuracy dwindled as the game progressed until he was taken off with an injury early in the 2nd half.

9. Rudy Paige 7
Was brought into the team to play a territorial game and general kicked quite well from the base. Unfortunately South Africa couldn’t hold onto that territory which meant the game plan was largely ineffectual.

8. Warren Whiteley 7.5
Tackled well, won a turnover and was industrious around the park but lacked the dynamic ball carry element to his game that was sorely missed.

7. Pieter-Steph Du Toit 4.5
South Africa’s fringe defence was woeful and PSDT has to take the lion’s share of the blame. He was sold a dummy by Youngs not once but twice and often found himself covering too big a space which shows a lack of communication. You can only assume that South Africa’s player of the year was out of his depth playing away from his usual position

6. Willem Alberts 6.5
Top tackler for South Africa with 17 he was typically physical and abrasive but failed to dominate in those tackles as much as would have been hoped

5. Lood De Jager 5.5
With England shorn of their first choice locks the lineout was an area that many expected South Africa to dominate but for some reason they never competed on England’s put in, which was reflected in the stats with line out steals 1-0 to England

4. Eben Etzebeth 6
He was the first but not last player to be sold a dummy by Youngs only to have Big Billy run him over seconds later and end his game early on. Up til that point he had been playing pretty well holding his own in the contact area and carrying the hard yards

3. Vincent Koch 7
Locked down his side of the scrum and gave Mako no chance to attack. Carried well including a half break through the middle of a ruck

2. Adriaan Strauss 6
Nothing he tried seemed to work out today from swinging his boot at thin air when trying to hack through the loose ball to his foot sliding into touch after a nice break down the wing. Hit his man at the lineouts and part of a dominant front row but also guilty of a lack of organisation on fringe defence

1. Tendai Mtawarira 8
Got the better of Cole on a couple of occasions at scrum time and the main driving force in the dominant South African scrum. Made a barn storming run through the middle of a ruck from his own 22 and carried well for some harder yards too.

Replacements 5
A real mixed bag for Johan Goosen who started with a lovely dink to the corner, finished his try well and put in the miss pass for the Le Roux to score but also had some really horrible moments especially with the boot. Mostert got an extended run but failed to impact the game significantly. Mbonambi had that horrible overthrow at the lineout, the only time Carr touch the ball he knocked it on, the replacement props didn’t have the same dominance in the scrum but Faf raised the tempo well late on.

By Leon Entwistle @leon_entwistle

Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images