South Africa, the world champions, managed to secure a hard-fought victory over England, handing the hosts their fifth consecutive defeat.
This marks England’s worst losing streak since 2018. Last year, South Africa only narrowly edged out England by a single point, but this time the match was less challenging for them.
Following this game, England will face Japan, whom they defeated by a 35-point margin in June, in what now feels like their last hope for a win.
Meanwhile, South Africa continues their winning streak. Other major southern hemisphere teams, including New Zealand and Australia, have also left England struggling on their own turf recently.
England took an early lead thanks to a try by Ollie Sleightholme, but South Africa responded with tries from Grant Williams, Pieter-Steph du Toit, and Cheslin Kolbe. Although Sam Underhill put in a strong performance afterward, Kolbe’s impactful play helped ensure that South Africa held firm.
England (17) 20
Tries: Sleightholme, Underhill
Conversions: Smith (2)
Penalties: Smith (2)
South Africa (19) 29
Tries: Williams, Du Toit, Kolbe (2)
Conversions: Libbok (2), Pollard
Penalty: Pollard
