England handed fifth straight defeat
South Africa hold off fightback to edge out hosts at Twickeham, while Wales manage a win over valiant 14-man Fiji.
South Africa held off a fierce England fightback to triumph 31-28 in a thunderous test at Twickenham to make it five defeats in a row for Stuart Lancaster’s side 10 months before they host the World Cup.
Two tries put South Africa 20-6 ahead a minute into the second half and though England scored two quickfire rolling maul tries to get level, Schalk Burger got the key third Springbok score and the boot of flyhalf Pat Lambie brought them home.
Keep reading
list of 4 itemsEngland hold on to beat Argentina in Rugby World Cup third place playoff
South African hooker Mbonambi cleared to play in Rugby World Cup final
Late kick gives South Africa ‘ugly’ win over England in Rugby World Cup
The victory made it 11 wins and a draw for the Boks against England, dating back to 2006, and was a hugely satisfying one following their defeat by Ireland last weekend.
Elsewhere, Wales beat a valiant 14-man Fiji 17-13 at the Millennium Stadium in a precursor to next year when the two nations meet in the pool stages of the World Cup.
In another match, Japan fullback Ayumu Goromaru scored six penalties to give his team a far from convincing 18-13 victory over Romania in the first test of their European tour.