South Africa kept their unbeaten tour of the UK rolling on the weekend as they downed England 29 – 20 at Allianz Stadium.
Taking control of the contest in the final twenty minutes with a try to Cheslin Kolbe, which was converted by Handre Pollard, who also added a penalty to his tally. The Springboks proved once again to be an eighty-minute team, whilst England remained in pursuit of a complete performance.
Scoring four top-notch tries through Kolbe (2), Pieter-Steph Du Toit and Grant Williams, the World Champions suffocated England with their relentless physicality.
Pulling the strings for the Boks from the start was Manie Libbok who had one of his typically exceptional open play games but was once again found wanting from the kicking tee.
These struggles would see Pollard replace him in the 45th minute, with the double World Cup winner slotting the crucial shots at goal, with his penalty in particular being eerily similar to last year’s semi-final effort.
Whilst Libbok was once again exceptional with his ability to take the ball to the line, one incident which he will regret was when he got a little too close to England’s bruising centre Ollie Lawrence.
Just as the Stormers’ pivot was getting set to release his outside backs, he was crunched by the Bath centre. Whilst he got the ball away, Libbok clearly felt the shot was a tad late and went on to remonstrate with the match officials, who were having none of it.
What did you make of the incident? Let us know in the comments on social media.
Thoughts on this hit on Libbok and his subsequent gesturing to the officials?
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Watch the highly acclaimed five-part documentary Chasing the Sun 2, chronicling the journey of the Springboks as they strive to successfully defend the Rugby World Cup, free on RugbyPass TV (*unavailable in Africa)
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