Marcus Smith was the hero as England downed South Africa in a Twickenham epic
(Picture: Getty Images)England vs South Africa - LIVE!
England rounded off a successful Autumn Nations Series and look ahead to the Six Nations with real optimism following a statement 27-26 win over South Africa.
The world champions, who defeated today’s opposition in the 2019 World Cup final in Yokohama, represented formidable opposition in front of a capacity crowd at Twickenham, but came unstuck thanks to Marcus Smith’s last-gasp penalty in an epic clash.
Manu Tuilagi and Freddie Steward notched early tries for England, but the former then had to be substituted with a hamstring injury.
The Springboks were well below par in the first half, but kept in touch courtesy of the boot of fly-half Handre Pollard.
South Africa’s ‘Bomb Squad’ turned the momentum after the interval, but England would not be denied as young scrum-half Raffi Quirke touched down his first international try with momentum swinging breathlessly back and forth.
Up stepped Smith in the final moments to deliver an improbable and memorable win for England and Eddie Jones.
