Ignoring that the Bokke were better, man for man, and that England have now lost 6(?) games on the trot,
it was obviously the ref that blew it for the roses. O.0
Faf De Klerk simply outplayed his opposite, marshaling his team to attack over and over and over, without respite, and England didn't have an answer except to let penalty magnet Itojie loose with abandon.
May and Brown exposed SAs scrambling defence, but the reality was that after 20 minutes England hit a wall and didn't know what to do.
That isn't to say they gave up or didn't try as hard as they could, but they just weren't good enough to unpick the Saffers.
You would think that after a half-dozen times of up-and-unders handing the control back to the Bokke, they would have tried something else, but no. Plan B was like Plan A, but faster...
Willy Le Roux, Faf De Klerk deserved dual man of the match awards. Le Roux never shut up, directing play all over the park, pushing his teammates.
And don't underestimate the impetus of having the first black captain in their history and his effect in pushing the team.
Who was the English captain? I saw a lot of faces being pulled and frustration and whining to the ref, us not a lot of leadership.
And Robshaw is done. Just doesn't have what it takes. Brown is awful on defence, as is Ford. Great going forward, clueless on the back foot. Big polynesians are useful if you have the speed and ball handling and lines to use them, but Jones seems to think they are best used as a sledgehammer.
The sheer amount of passes put in by SA was notable, even if they were a little ragged, at least they were throwing it about - it left the England centre pairing flummoxed, running hither and non.
A really enjoyable game, from the view of a disinterested third party that really would support any team playing either of them
