South Africa vs England player ratings: Tendai Mtarawira stars on 100th Test as Duane Vermeulen downs England

Man-for-man marking from the second Test in Bloemfontein

Jack de Menezes
Saturday 16 June 2018 19:03 BST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

South Africa profited from a second-half penalty try to inflict more misery on England with a 23-12 victory and a series win in the second test at the Free State Stadium on Saturday.

Poor discipline cost England again as they slipped to a fifth test loss in a row, piling the pressure on coach Eddie Jones some 15 months out from the World Cup in Japan next year.

Number eight Duane Vermeulen scored a try for the Springboks, while fly-half Handre Pollard kicked three penalties and a conversion in a game that did not have the same high drama as the first test at Ellis Park, but was equally absorbing.

England scored their tries early through wings Mike Brown and Jonny May, while centre Owen Farrell kicked a conversion as they failed to register a point after the 13th minute.

For the second week running England surged into an early lead with two scores as they spread the ball wide and were met with brittle defence from the home side, but ill-discipline allowed the Springboks to whittle down the lead and by half-time the scoreboard was already in their favour.

So how did the players perform? View our ratings in the gallery above.

(Additional reporting by Reuters)

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in