A week after chasing down a 19-point deficit to draw with the All Blacks, England were in position to do the same against South Africa but could make the most of a red card.
The 14-man Springboks ended the season with a 27-13 win at Twickenham shutting out a late England charge. England trailed 27-6 heading into the final quarter when Thomas du Toit was given a red card for making head contact in a tackle.
Henry Slade scored shortly after to make it a 14-point game as England looked for a repeat comeback as they did against Ian Foster’s All Blacks last week. But constant mistakes in the final 10 minutes denied them a chance to score again.
England, runner-up to South Africa at the last World Cup but struggling for any consistency, bulked up its lineout options and predicted it would have an edge in the scrum. But it was beaten up in both set-pieces as the Springboks manhandled the English pack and suffocated the English backs.
Kurt-Lee Arendse scored a try in a sixth consecutive test and Eben Etzebeth rewarded the forwards’ effort with a second-half try. Four goalkicks by Faf de Klerk and two dropped goals by Damian Willemse reflected an impressive performance on the scoreboard.
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