South Africa 55 England 22:Jake White was standing in a dimly-lit corridor but his mind was already in a different city and a different hemisphere. The game that really matters to these teams is still three months distant and the Springboks' coach knows tougher encounters lie ahead. England's mistake, similarly, would be to assume they have already seen South Africa at the peak of their powers.
Just as this was not the real England it is quite possible there were only glimpses of the real South Africa on show here. Over two games in Pretoria and Bloemfontein they played barely half an hour with the handbrake fully off and still racked up a total of 15 tries and an aggregate scoreline of 113-32. By the time the World Cup pool game in Paris on September 14th comes around, the fine detail of this tour will be a hazy memory. South Africa's emergence as credible World Cup contenders, though, has been impossible to ignore.
Saturday's most revealing snapshot occurred in the Springbok dressingroom at half-time. Staggeringly enough, England were leading 19-17 at the interval, having just scored a converted interception try from Dan Scarbrough to add to four penalties by Jonny Wilkinson.
If ever there was a moment to throw a few tea-cups around, this was it. Instead White opted not to resort to the old "scream and shout" South African stereotype and, in a nod to Clive Woodward, whom he admires, calmly delegated responsibility to the players. They duly accepted the unspoken challenge and put in what White described as "our best 10 minutes in the two Tests" to run in three tries and splinter England's dogged resistance.
The 43rd minute try scored by Bakkies Botha was the most ominous, showcasing the pace, power and handling skills of their rangy forwards. As for the second of Bryan Habana's two tries, taking his tally against England to five in their last three meetings, there was a sheen of genius in the way he ducked into space and threw a glorious sidestep to leave the debutant Nick Abendanon in a heap of twisted vowels.
Pierre Spies, the number eight with hands the size of dustbin lids, also waltzed over for the first two tries of his Test career in a manner which suggested he may well shatter all Test scoring records for a forward.
Indeed, South Africa could easily boast half a dozen strong candidates for any World XV, putting them on a par with New Zealand. The Boks' Tri-Nations clash with the All Blacks in Durban in three weeks' time promises to be quite something.
England? Once again they were commendably brave in unenviable circumstances. At one point there appeared to be at least three Magnus Lunds on the field such was the weight of tackles being made by England's number seven. The South African captain, Juan Smit, was unhappy at the number of collapsed scrums but, for the second successive week, the wily old duo of Kevin Yates and Mark Regan proved combative. Smit said afterwards he talked more with Regan in the course of this single game than he has done with his wife in years.
While the lineout was less of a success, Nick Easter's work-rate never faltered, Andy Gomarsall kept a cool head and Scarbrough took his chance well. Wilkinson enjoyed a more effective day than in Bloemfontein, making fewer tackles but asserting himself more elsewhere.
For England this series was an unnecessary evil, a sickly damage-limitation exercise. For South Africa, contrary to what Brian Ashton keeps claiming, the legacy has been purely positive. "It's easy for Brian Ashton to say because he didn't lose to South Africa for the last seven years. There are a lot of psychological bonuses for us," insisted White.
SOUTH AFRICA: P Montgomery; A Ndungane, W Olivier, J de Villiers, B Habana; B James, E Januarie; G Steenkamp, J Smit, CJ van der Linde, B Botha, V Matfield, S Burger, J Smith, P Spies. Replacements: F Steyn for Montgomery (70), A Willemse for Ndungane (52), R Pienaar for Januarie (70), G Botha for Smit (70), D Carstens for van der Linde (57), J Muller for B. Botha (64), B Skinstad for Smith (73).
ENGLAND: M Brown; J Noon, M Tait, T Flood, D Scarbrough; J Wilkinson, A Gomarsall; K Yates, M Regan, M Stevens, R Winters, A Brown, N Easter, M Lund, B Skirving. Replacements: D Abendanon for M. Brown (63), S Perry for Gomarsall (54), S Turner for Yates (58), A Titterrell for Regan (70), D Schofield for Winters (73), C Jones for A Brown (63).
Referee: J Jutge (France).
Guardian Service
