England player ratings vs South Africa from their third match of the Autumn Nations Series at the Allianz Stadium in Twickenham.
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Steve Borthwick’s side endured a fifth consecutive defeat, but there were still glimmers of hope as they matched the reigning world champions blow for blow.
England got off to a fast start, with Ollie Sleightholme crossing early, but tries from Grant Williams, Pieter-Steph Du Toit, and Cheslin Kolbe soon saw South Africa take control. England fought back before halftime, with Sam Underhill’s try narrowing the gap to just 19-17 in favour of the Springboks.
However, Kolbe’s second try in the second half proved to be the decisive moment, as England battled hard but ultimately fell to their third straight home loss—something not seen since 2006.
Scroll down for our England player ratings vs South Africa.
England: 20
- Tries: Ollie Sleightholme (03′), Sam Underhill (25′)
- Cons: Marcus Smith (04′, 26′)
- Pens: Marcus Smith( 15′, 51′)
South Africa: 29
- Tries: Grant Williams (10′), Pieter-Steph du Toit (16′), Cheslin Kolbe (21′, 62′)
- Cons: Manie Libbok (11′, 22′), Handre Pollard (63′)
- Pens: Handre Pollard( 58′)
Keys stats:
- Tackles: Ollie Lawrence – 12
- Tackles missed: George Martin – 4
- Carries: Ben Earl – 12
- Matres: Ben Earl – 45
- Defender’s beat: Marcus Smith – 4
- Turnovers won: Sam Underhill – 1
England player ratings vs South Africa:
15 Freddie Steward -8
Making a come back to the international stage, Freddie Stewart performed exceptionally since being dropped. His aerial skills were phenomenal getting great height and solid attacked and confidence against South Africa. There was some challenge within his defence, which must come from nerves in playing at Englands home again which unfortunately led to tries from Grant Williams, and Cheslin Kolbe. None the less, a brilliant come back from the Full Back and we should see a lot more of him in the upcoming fixtures.
14 Tommy Freeman – 8
A winger who could’ve easily played in the front row with his tackle technique this evening. Being dominant in most of his head on collisions, Tommy Freeman made a statement that he deserves to wear the white kit! His footwork, tackling, and confidence holding the ball was a brilliant performances which should be a studying point for any young rugby player looking to improve. Also, maybe Owen Farrell could take some notes on his tackle height?
13 Ollie Lawrence – 7
Another back acting like a forward with their tackle technique. Ollie Lawrence always performs well in an England kit; today, not only did he showcase his tackle, physicality, and ball handling skills, he also gave fans a taste of his kicking skills which forced South Africa to play a goal line drop out – unfortunately it was a lost opportunity for what could’ve a great try…but we’ll never know.
12 Henry Slade – 7.5
Henry Slade showed excellent team work in today’s fixture by working well with his fellow backs. A key example was not being selfish in taking the ball in to score, when he passed it off to Ollie Sleightholme to guarantee the try. Unfortunately Slade was taken off for a HIA, then returned to the field after 10 minutes. His effort was sensational in today’s fixture, but the best is for sure yet to come!
11 Ollie Sleightholme – 8
Once again, Englands hero! Ollie Sleightholme scoring within five minutes, he made the statement that The Red Rose is going to make a stand to defend their home. His speed was sensation when he made a chase on Cheslin Kolbe, and also making a great kick down field to force a goal line drop out; maybe him and Ollie Lawrence had a chat before kick off? His defence was tight, and attack kept the Springboks on their toes. An excellent effort!
10 Marcus Smith – 9
This man had a near perfect game. There’s a reason he wasn’t subbed, or swapped on field and that’s because no one was better as fly-half on the field than Marcus Smith. There were a few kicking errors with charge downs, and a missed opportunity because of a kick down field also, but he was surgical with the ball, and there was no hesitation to take the ball into a tackle when he needed to. A fan favourite for reasons that were shown in today’s fixture. Maybe the permanent England Number 10? Has Steve Borthwick listened to the fans?
9 Jack van Poortvliet – 6
A tough day for Van Poortvliet. Taking over for Ben Spencer, it was a tough role to fill. The pressure of facing back to back world champions got the better of the scrum half. Not playing the ball fast enough in the scrums and rucks meant it was easier for Boks like Eben Etzebeth to charge it down. He came off at 60 minutes, but it could be argued that he was left on too long.
8 Ben Earl – 7
The England number 8 is always a slippery one for the opposing team. Solid in tackles, great footwork in finding space to gain yards for the home side. His highlighting factor was during the ruck Ben Earl was awesome in protecting the ball for the number 9 to play; but this was not his best game. We’re yet to see the way Earl played since that England v Ireland game at Twickenham in the Six Nations this year, who knows what he’ll bring next week.
7 Sam Underhill – 7
The second man to score for England, he was excellent at reading where the ball will be and make an impact in defence. His line speed was matched only by Etzebeth. His pure strength was shown when it took three Boks to stop him, and he was still able to push through them and get that ball down over the goal line. His mark on the game did decline on the second half and he came on in the 66th minute, but it was one of teh better performances from the forwards.
6 Chandler Cunningham-South – 6
Cunningham-South was Englands hero last week, he has been sensation this Autumn Internationals. Sadly, today was not one to put on the CV. He rather underperformed in the first half, not making a massive impact to the game. He did gain some confidence in the second with his tackles, but his main impact was made with the lineouts. Staying on for the whole match, would it have made sense to give him the rest he seemed to need?
5 George Martin – 6.5
George Martin made a solid impact against the South African defence to let them know England were going to knock down their door. He put in a solid shift playing 75 minutes of the match, doing his job of running hard, tackling hard. He was a text book forward in today’s fixture, but there was room for something magical to happen. Maybe it’s because he wasn’t given the coverage like other forwards, but he had done something exceptional then he surely would have.
4 Maro Itoje – 6
The England Vice captain knows what he’s doing for sure. During the scrums he got as low as is humanly possible, it looked like he was lying down, but was no match for the Springbok scrum; much like the rest of the forward pack. We also saw Itoje test out his skills as number 9, though it seemed that was because he was simply too shattered to get involved with the ruck. From the second half he seemed like he was struggling to keep up, and maybe would’ve been worth subbing him off.
3 Will Stuart – 5
The props hero, once upon a time. Today Will Stuart has a harsh day at the office form the match official. Conceding two penalties in under a minute, and then a third in the second half, his standards compared to the England v New Zealand game were night and day. His saving grace was he was brilliant at keeping height in the second half, but this was not the best of Stuart.
2 Jamie George – 8
The best performance from the England captain for a long time. Maybe fuelled by revenge for the 2023 Rugby World Cup semi-final, his impact was the better of the front row forwards in the first half. His tackling against his South African counterparts was excellent, and he very nearly scored with powerful leg drives which took England within spitting distance of the goal line. A brilliant performance from the hooker and captain, but let’s see if he can keep it up next week.
1 Ellis Genge – 7
The whole of the front row struggled against South Africa in the scrum, but Genge made up for that with his power in the ruck. keeping solid and strong against the green jersey’s, and great tackles, his highlight was backing himself carrying the ball into the sea of Springboks and fighting to get the home side closer to the goal line. It’s one of the better performances Genge has given in this Autumn International season, but there’s that little extra something that he’s going to give which will be spectacular!
Replacements
16 Luke Cowan-Dickie – 7
Coming on at 48 minutes for Jamie George, his first impact was a penalty given to the Springboks for a dummy throw in the lineout. He made up for it with recovering the ball in a ruck which led to the Boks giving a penalty. His physicality against defence really took over from George’s performance, and it was something that he should be proud off. Polishing some standards, and he will have a better game next week.
17 Fin Baxter – 5
Fin Baxter came on the 63rd minute and once again, not a lot else happened from the young hooker. The international stage, against the world champions, credit where credit is due he held his own doing his job and not being afraid to get involved in tackles, and maybe that’s all Steve Borthwick wanted; the concern is maybe Baxter isn’t quite doing enough to get himself noticed in the long term to wear the England Jersey.
18 Dan Cole – 6
A man who’s been with the squad so long he’s growing roots, but he proves every match why he’s still selected. Getting involved in the physical, dirty side of rugby head on makes Dan Cole a named that echos through the souls of rugby players both internally and domestically. He come on in the 58th minute, and he was one of the hardest working players for those 20 minutes. But how long can Dan Cole keep this up?
19 Nick Isiekwe – 5
Once again, given only 5 minutes to prove why he was selected into the England Squad. Is there much point in having him on the bench if you’re not going to use him? As we know, Isiekwe underwent open heart surgery in 2022, but if Borthwick in concerned for his health then why is he part of the squad? He needs more time to show what he can do, five minutes (plus change) is simply not enough.
20 Alex Dombrandt – 6
Coming on the 66th minute for Sam Underhill, Alex Dombrandt has some big boots to fill in this game and it makes sense that he didn’t. Not that he played badly, he did exactly what he needed to do when he needed to do it, but with how well Underhill performed we didn’t want to see him come off. FairPlay to Dombrandt for still performing to an international standard, it just wasn’t a noteworthy one.
21 Harry Randall – 5
Coming on as number 9 in the 60th minute, Harry Randall seemed calmer in that position with playing the ball but there was still something missing – something magical. His kicking game was a breath of fresh air compared to the JVP, but there was a weak point with the Scrum-Half position and the South Africans knew it.
22 George Ford – N/A
Not used in todays fixture.
23 Tom Roebuck – 6
Coming on for Henry Slade at 48 minutes, and then coming off for Henry Slade at 58 minutes, Tom Roebuck was robbed of an opportunity. Or did he just underperform in those 10 minutes that Slade had to come back on? not a lot was noted of Roebuck during his cap of this fixture, but, like most of the bench, that was because he wasn’t given the time to prove his worth and showcase his skills.
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- Matt Dawson has a new a partner after splitting from wife following Question Of Sport exit
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