Boks overpower England in Durban
Stuart Lancaster and his England entered the first test in Durban quietly confident of upsetting an 'undercooked' South Africa and taking a 1-0 series lead to Johannesburg. They left battered, bruised and beaten.
Before the game England felt they had the tools to negate the host's game-plan of bludgeoning power, followed by aerial bombardment. In the first 40 minutes Lancaster's men more than held their own. Mike Brown coped well with the relentless kicking from Morne Steyn and Francois Hougaard. For a time the home side were rattled and England appeared to be in the ascendancy.
The half-time score of 6-6 gave England cause for optimism. But they were unable to contain a second half surge of power from the massive Springbok pack, which killed off any chance of the tourists claiming their first win in seven games against the Boks. During this 20 minute period Heyneke Meyer's side dominated the territory, and the inevitable scores came from Morne Steyn and skipper John De Villiers.
Most of England's problems stemmed from an extremely poor kicking game. The large majority of the kicks were too long, meaning the chasers were unable to put any pressure on the catcher. And with time and space the South African back three, particularly Bryan Habana were able to immediately put England on the back-foot.
In the second-half England struggled to find any attacking rhythm and with the exception of Ben Foden's late try they hardly troubled the well drilled Springbok defence any problems. Owen Farrell failed to get his back-line moving, his passing game was wayward and he never really got into the game in an attacking sense. But it is worth remembering this is only his sixth test start.
Ben Youngs looked completely out of sorts, like he did for much of the Six Nations. His box-kicking was below par and like Farrell he was unable to get going with ball in hand.
But it wasn't all doom and gloom.
Manu Tuilagi was once again the focal point of his sides attack, drawing at least two defenders whenever he got his hands on the ball. His contribution in defence was huge, as the Tigers centre cut down Hougaard as the scrum-half looked certain to register the first score of the game.
Tom Johnson had an excellent debut, making a real nuisance of himself at the breakdown. On the other flank captain Chris Robshaw had another outstanding game, further establishing himself as the key man in the English pack. At full-back Brown had a solid game, but a broken thumb has ruled him out of the series.
Going into the second test Stuart Lancaster has some big selections to make. With Brad Barritt ruled out, so there will be a shake-up of the midfield. Toby Flood return to test rugby was a welcome one for England, a possible move to fly-half with young Farrell moving to 12 has been suggested.
But the more attacking option would be to move Tuilagi to inside centre and give rookie Jonathan Joseph his first start at outside centre. Joseph has been making waves in the Premiership this year, and showed some good touches during his brief cameo off the bench in Durban.
A switch at half-back is needed with Youngs making way for either Lee Dickson or Danny Care. The combination of Dickson and Farrell which was so effective in the Six Nations, should be given another chance to develop.
In the pack a player with the physicality of James Haskell can give England a big boost. The balance of the back-row on Saturday was pleasing, and they should go again. Haskell's impact from the bench could be valuable.
The rest of the series will be tougher and more brutal than Durban, the Boks have drawn first blood and they will be hungry to blow England away next week.
