Brilliant goal-kicking by Owen Farrell and a superbly created Jonny May try gave England a 25-10 dead-rubber Test victory over South Africa on Saturday, which snapped a six-match losing run.
Here, we take a look at three takeaways from Newlands.
England dominate up front
The Red Rose played the percentages better and looked accurate, putting pressure on the Springboks and forcing them into mistakes. At line-out time the home side looked dominant (91 per cent success in comparison to England’s 67 per cent), but the Red Rose bossed the scrum, with Joe Marler at the fore of their exploits.
The Harlequins man hasn’t had too many opportunities with Mako Vunipola in such strong form over the past 12 months, but he provided that extra bit of spark in Cape Town.
In the back-row, 20-year-old Tom Curry is starting to show that he is finding his feet at this level, getting over the ball and really growing into that number seven role. If Eddie Jones can leave South Africa with some positives then it is Curry’s emergence as he looks towards the autumn.
Cipriani shows some class
If you could pick the worst conditions for Cipriani to make his first start in 10 years then these were those. At times, it was easy to forget the 30-year-old was even playing.
The Gloucester man touched the ball just five times in the first half and was out of the game for large spells of the second. With the wet weather playing havoc, Cipriani didn’t play off first receiver, instead Ben Youngs opting to bring a forward into the system and keep the game tight.
It would have been exciting to see the Cipriani-Owen Farrell axis in full flow, but the howling wind meant he was unable to showcase his natural game. His one moment of class was a cleverly weighted kick through for May’s try on 70 minutes. Would George Ford have been able show the same x-factor?
Conditions slowed down Springboks game plan
Not a classic by any means. The wet Newlands surface made conditions difficult, with the Springboks unable to employ the high pace game from the first two Tests in Ellis Park and Bloemfontein.
Having won the series going into Sunday’s game, they were unable to bring the energy required to match an imposing England attack, with the visitors more ruthless and aggressive.
Rassie Erasmus’ men made some poor decisions with dropped balls and desperate missed tackles, conceding 20 turnovers and 14 penalties in comparison to England’s 11 and six respectively. For all the negativity about the conditions, it was good practice to play in this weather as it could happen in a Rugby World Cup semi-final next year in Japan.
