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Mon 14 Nov 2016 | 12:25
England break their Springboks hoodoo with convincing win at Twickenham

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England beat South Africa for the first time since 2006 as they showed superior composure, organisation and execution for a 37-21 Twickenham victory. Mastermind coach Eddie Jones has now led England to ten victories in succession since he took over.

Scrumhalf Ben Youngs was key for the home side, as he twice beat out of position flanker Pieter-Steph du Toit, setting up tries for George Ford and Owen Farrell, following earlier tries by Jonny May and Courtney Lawes.

"South Africa are a huge rugby nation and beating them will give this team another layer of confidence," said Youngs. "It is another step of building to where we want to get to.

"That is number one in the world and that is another step, but to get there we need to control the ball better, have better discipline and want to put teams under more pressure.

"But there is a lot more to come from us and that is the overriding feeling in the dressing room, we got the result and our campaign under way with a win."

Springbok flanker Willem Alberts felt England were more clinical on the day.

"England played really well. I think they prepared really well, and they’re a team that’s on form at the moment. Congratulations to them. We just have to be better next week.

"I think mostly it was execution. I think in the wet weather we lost more balls than they did – the weather is there for both teams. I just think they executed better than us."

Alberts said that they will keep working hard, as they now head to Florence to face Italy.

"I just think we have to find the balance in when we play, when we attack and when we play the kicking game – just a little bit more balance and better execution, and keeping the ball better.

"I think the ball retention is key for us at the moment. I don’t think the game plan… We cannot execute our game plan if we don’t have the ball, so we need to do that better, keep the ball. When I arrived back in the Bok squad, the training is going well and the belief is there. We are trying our best, and the guys want to perform, go out there and play good rugby.

"Unfortunately we are just not putting it over into points and into wins. The belief will always be there when you pull the Bok jersey over your head. You always have a chance and a big responsibility, and I think it’s still there.

"It is tough times, but we will keep on grinding every day in the coming weeks to get the result that we want," he said.

Posted By: Grant Constable

16 Comments

  • drg
    1:26 PM 19/11/2016

    DC I like the way you think re Jones' welfare. Only thing I'd say is I suppose it depends how much of the strain and stress he takes onto himself as a person.

    I've seen people crack up in relatively low pressure jobs, and others completely separate themselves in high pressure jobs... the stress is part of the job, not the person....

    So if EJ enjoys the intensity of the job and the stresses are something that he leaves on the job title and not on himself then he might want to extend his contract - depends how much enjoyment he gets out of it :)

    I hope he does the right thing for himself and his family though :)

  • jimmy23
    11:13 AM 18/11/2016

    I wasn't aware of his recent stroke. If he chooses to go live out his remaining years in Barbados after 2019, then he fully deserves to.

    I wonder if the mantle will be passed on to Steve Borthwick? He'll have been alongside Jones for a good 7 years by that point, similar amount of time Hansen spent alongside Graham Henry and that's turned out pretty well. Although Hansen has been coaching since 1996 so he had a considerable amount of experience prior to being part of the All Blacks.

  • jonnyenglish
    10:49 AM 18/11/2016

    Lovely stuff. About time.

  • danknapp
    9:51 AM 18/11/2016

    If he has that competitive spirit, and as DanCarter has said has recently had a stroke, then I'd hope to see him retire on a bundle of cash (thank you RFU) and maybe go and coach the shit out of a small club side somewhere lovely and sunny.

    He's a great character and I think will be warmly embraced wherever he goes.

  • danknapp
    9:49 AM 18/11/2016

    So Jimmy, you think he'll move to New Zealand before the next WC then?

  • dancarter
    3:03 PM 17/11/2016

    As much as I would love to have him as coach for a long time, I think it might be the right thing for him to go when his contract ends, considering he has had a suspected stroke not too long ago.

    He retired from playing before I was born, but he must have been pretty feisty to play as a hooker, considering the era he played in and the fact that he is probably half the height and weight of all the other forwards. He seems like one of those players who 'accidentally' treads on you in a ruck. Nothing malicious or dangerous, but just to let you know that he's there.

  • jimmy23
    9:27 AM 17/11/2016

    I read that too, sadly :(
    However, he is a competitive bugger. If he were to win the WC in 2019, I'm sure a part of him would think; "Back-to-back titles?"

    Probably wrong, but one can hope.

  • dancarter
    11:01 PM 16/11/2016

    Jones has said this will be his last coaching job. Maybe it takes some of the pressure off, because regardless of what happens during his tenure he knows that in a couple of years he will be sat on an exotic beach with a cold beer.

  • drg
    3:14 PM 16/11/2016

    This is where I'd insert some sort of 'won't be too long before your next trip then' kind of joke, but England are actually doing pretty well.

    I do like the way Eddie Jones is still pretty nonchalant about the whole thing, rating Englands performance at just above average... It has an air of arrogance about it - "beat you even though we were average" but by the same token he is more focussed on his own lot than the opposition. Definitely an inspiring coach.

    I wonder how long he'll be with England, where he will go next etc?

  • drg
    12:51 PM 15/11/2016

    I agree with both sentiments above, what grabs me more however is the injury side of things....

    Perhaps in the pro game it's not thought about, perhaps they come off the field, reassess and see what's on, or who made it unscathed etc... But it would be a bit heart breaking to see someone get damaged in a freak injury when the game is clearly done and dusted...

    But I agree, with the AB comparison, after the kick they'd run that ball right back at the opposition, smashing doors and heads as they pass...

  • dancarter
    12:48 PM 15/11/2016

    I think they probably would have, yes. And if I was an ABs fan with another game next week I would want them to get the ball off the park too. Jones doesn't seem bothered by the UK media circus, but keeping them onside is worthwhile for a coach.

  • danknapp
    12:36 PM 15/11/2016

    I was there, and it was a cracking atmosphere. My son (7) found the noise a bit overwhelming at first, so I promised to bring him back when England were losing.

  • stroudos
    10:52 AM 15/11/2016

    Quite right Jimmy. If there are fewer than 8 points separating the scores, by all means get the ball off the park. Otherwise, play on!

    As Eddie said himself, if you worry too much about what the media say, very soon you'll find yourself up in the stands with them (instead of coaching the team).

  • jimmy23
    9:17 AM 15/11/2016

    Whilst I agree that those two things are a potential risk, I can't help but feel that if the All Blacks were in our position they would have gone for the try. To me, that's one of the reason's they've developed an ability to be such ruthless finishers. I don't think Jones is particularly bothered by what the media thinks, one of the reasons I like him so much!

  • dancarter
    10:39 PM 14/11/2016

    A try to finish off would have been nice but I don't really have an issue with us kicking the ball out once the clock is red. The job is done, let's get out of there and on to the next one. If we played on and SA turned us over and scored or if someone got injured Jones would have been dragged over the coals by the media.

  • jimmy23
    4:41 PM 14/11/2016

    The first 20 minutes, the last try and kicking the ball out of play when the clock went red aside, was a solid performance from England considering the injury list. A lot of room for improvement but good to know we've got a bit of depth.
    I know South Africa aren't the force they once were but I didn't think they were that bad this game to be honest.

    On a side note, I didn't think it was humanly possible for Eben Etzebeth to get knocked over like that, I wonder if he went off more out of confusion than concussion.

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