England 11 South Africa 21:AND SO ends another calendar year of contradictory evidence. England beat Australia who hammered France who beat Argentina who beat Italy who beat Scotland who beat South Africa who made England look ordinary on Saturday.
Aside from the jet-black shadow of New Zealand, whose moment of truth awaits, the moral of a roller-coaster autumn is that the 2011 Rugby World Cup could be very interesting indeed.
If they continue to work hard and rediscover the kind of tempo and accuracy which confounded the Wallabies, England may yet enjoy a better tournament next year than seemed possible 12 months ago. The promised land, nevertheless, remains elusive.
In 2009, Martin Johnson’s team played 10 Tests, winning five and losing five. In 2010 their record has been: P11 W5 D1 L5. For all the persistent talk of rising graphs and surging confidence, people forget that most of the opposition are improving too.
That was again the case at the weekend, South Africa turning in a strong-arm display which drove several ox-carts across the tender green shoots of English recovery.
South Africa had the right balance of power and precision. England, as they proved against Australia, have rediscovered some attacking verve. But every self-respecting team still needs a tactical kicking game and has to earn the right to go wide.
Closer analysis of England’s six November tries shows two-thirds came from long-range interceptions and turnovers or chased kicks. In terms of finishing what they instigate, Johnson’s team still have a fair way to go.
On Saturday it was also worryingly evident how much of their X-factor disappeared once Tom Croft went to hospital to have his shoulder X-rayed, Toby Flood was forced off and Chris Ashton became a virtual zombie following a collision with Victor Matfield.
Courtney Lawes did remarkably well in a losing cause, but Ben Youngs, behind a pack under strain, encountered the harsher side of Test rugby.
It all enabled South Africa, led by Victor Matfield, Bismarck du Plessis and Juan Smith, to ratchet up the pressure and demonstrate how difficult it can be to play against a team whose forwards are pumped up and who have the nous to vary the game.
“We’ve got to learn that sometimes we can’t play open, expansive rugby when the game is a bit slower,” said centre Mike Tindall.
He added England’s future opponents will study the replays of the Samoa and Springbok games and scent possibilities.
“Sometimes Test rugby is about winning ugly and we didn’t get to grips with that early enough.”
That said, not everyone in the English squad is talking about reality checks. Lawes still predicts that England will prove to be strong contenders for the Six Nations title – “If we play to our potential in every game we’ve got a very good chance,” he said – and Australia’s spectacular finish in Paris has left a listless French team in total disarray. England, though, still have to negotiate tricky trips to Cardiff and Dublin.
Between then and now, Johnson has the chance to reshuffle his elite squad – promotion for a couple of Northampton forwards is an option – and enjoy a warm-weather training trip to Portugal. He knows Ben Foden’s late interception score here should really have been a try to South Africa, had CJ van der Linde set free the three men outside him.
The tries scored by Willem Alberts and Lwazi Mvovo, who have a mere five caps between them, offered further proof the Boks are on the comeback trail.
“The conclusion is that the team is going in the right direction and we can be a pretty good side,” said Johnson. His end-of-term report is a familiar lament: could do better.
ENGLAND: Foden (Northampton); Ashton (Northampton; Banahan, Bath, 73), Tindall (Gloucester), Hape (Bath), Cueto (Sale); Flood (Leicester; Hodgson, Sale, 33), Youngs (Leicester, Care, Harlequins, 62); Sheridan (Sale), Hartley (Northampton; Thompson, Leeds, 73), Cole (Leicester; Wilson, Bath, 68), Lawes (Northampton; Shaw, Wasps, 68), Palmer (Stade Francais), Croft (Leicester; Fourie, Leeds, 22), Moody (Bath, capt), Easter (Harlequins).
SOUTH AFRICA: Kirchner (Blue Bulls; Jacobs, Sharks, 47); Aplon (Western Province; Lambie, Sharks, 79), F Steyn (Racing Metro), De Villiers (Western Province; Hougaard, Blue Bulls, 67), Mvovo (Sharks); M Steyn (Blue Bulls), Pienaar (Ulster); Mtawarira (Sharks), B du Plessis (Sharks; Strauss, Cheetahs, 79), J du Plessis (Sharks; Van der Linde, Cheetahs, 53), B Botha (Blue Bulls; Van der Merwe, Blue Bulls, 67), Matfield (Blue Bulls, capt), Stegmann (Blue Bulls; Alberts, Sharks, 49), Smith (Cheetahs), Spies (Blue Bulls).
Referee: G Clancy(Ireland).
Guardian Service
