Man-of-the-match Damian de Allende said the Springboks had to ask serious questions about themselves at half-time against England.
Stand-in captain Pieter-Steph du Toit in action against England at Ellis Park on Saturday. Picture: Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images
Springbok centre Damian de Allende and stand-in captain Pieter-Steph du Toit praised their side’s ability to weather periods of danger from England during South Africa’s 45-21 victory over the visitors at Ellis Park on Saturday.
The bonus-point win put South Africa at the top of the Southern Hemisphere table before Argentina’s match against Scotland in the opening weekend of the new Nations Championship.
The Springboks scored three tries in the first 12 minutes and then another four in the second half.
But there was a period toward the end of the first half when England scored two tries to reduce the deficit from 17-0 to 17-14 that they looked like they might produce a re-enactment of Australia’s incredible comeback win at the same venue last year.
There, the Wallabies overturned a 22-0 deficit to win 38-22.
‘Serious questions about ourselves’
However, the Springboks doubled down in defence and produced some excellent tries after the bench came on.
“It was a tough old Test match,” said De Allende, who earned player of the match.
“I thought we started very well. But we knew they would come back and we went through to half-time asking serious questions about ourselves.
“The way we started the second half, just like the first half, was incredible. It was a great showing from the players coming from halftime.”
He said some ill-discipline crept into the game and England exerted pressure. But the Springboks defended well and stopped a try-scoring opportunity or two.
Springbok defence carries the day
Du Toit, who acted as captain in place of the injured Siya Kolisi, also described it as a tough match.
“That’s the thing about England. They will always come back fighting,” Du Toit said.
“You could see it to the last minute, the last second. So we had to just keep up our defence.”
This was the Springboks’ fourth win in a row against England.
England are meanwhile on a five-game losing streak after also losing to Scotland, Ireland, Italy and France in the Six Nations.
They will need to bounce back against Fiji next week, while the Springboks take on Scotland at Loftus.
