England vs. South Africa: Memorable Matches

With England’s clash with current World Champions South Africa in the ongoing Autumn Nations Series edging ever closer, here we take a look at the most memorable matches between the two Rugby heavyweights.

The most eye-catching fixture of this weekend’s international rugby action in the 2024 Autumn Nations Series will see Steve Borthwick’s England go toe to toe with Rassie Erasmus and his South Africa side, who are the current world champions.

England will be looking to put the disappointment of defeat against Australia with a statement victory against the Springboks on Saturday 16th November 2024, with the game getting underway at 17:40 on that afternoon at the Allianz Stadium, Twickenham.

Both of these nations currently sit in the top ten of the Rugby World Rankings as of the time of writing. England currently find themselves in 7th place as things stand with a total of 82.62 points to their name, whilst their opponents South Africa are sat at the top of the World Rankings in 1st place with a total of no less than 92.46 points to their name so far.

Here, we are going to take a look back at some of the most memorable matches to have taken place between these two nations in all competitions, and in no particular order.

England 53 – 3 South Africa (2002)

We will start by rewinding all the way back to a rugby test match between England and South Africa from 2002 at Twickenham, where it was to be a historic afternoon of action for all of those in support of the hosts that day. It was a very memorable 53 – 3 victory over the Springboks, which remains their largest victory for England against them.

In the game itself, Jonny Wilkinson was able to score a penalty, before Matt Dawson was then able to make a brilliant break from no less than 70 metres out before giving it to Ben Cohen for a valuable try.

Then, South Africa’s task got much more difficult when Jannes Labuschagne was sent off after being shown a red card after 23 minutes. England then went on to score further tries through Will Greenwood (2), Neil Back, Richard Hill as well as Lawrence Dallaglio, who was on hand to score a penalty try for the hosts that afternoon.

England 27 – 22 South Africa (2000)

We now move on to a game between these two nations 2 years before England’s historic triumph over the Springboks back in 2000, when they were on a tour of South Africa in the lead-up to the 2003 Rugby World Cup.

In this particular encounter in 2000, it was England who came out on top after being able to beat their hosts 27 – 22 on this occasion. It was an extraordinary performance, particularly from the legendary Jonny Wilkinson, who scored all 27 points for his country in this particular game. It was a historic occasion as this was also England’s first and only second victory against Southern Hemisphere competition since 1995.

England 27 – 26 South Africa (2021)

The next memorable match between England and South Africa on this list took place back in 2021 when it was the former who was able to come out on top in what was a very competitive contest as 27 – 26 winners against the Springboks. It was the first time that they had gone head to head since the 2019 Rugby World Cup Final.

At the start of the game, space was created for Manu Tuilagi who duly obliged by scoring a sensational first try of the game after six minutes had elapsed. Further tries came from Freddie Steward and Raffi Quirke, whilst Marcus Smith was able to score 2 penalties, whilst also scoring no less than 3 conversions on the day.

Makazole Mapimpi was the only try scorer for the visiting South Africa side, whilst Handre Pollard converted 5 penalties whilst Elton Jantjies and Frans Steyn both scored one penalty each. The decisive moment of the game was what turned out to be the winning penalty from Marcus Smith in the 79th minute of this contest.

England 32 – 16 South Africa (2004)

The final game that we will be looking back on is the 2004 edition of the Autumn Nations Series at Twickenham in November of that year. Following what was an enthralling contest between hosts England and visitors South Africa, the home side were eventually able to come away with a tremendous 32 – 16 victory over the Springboks.

This was also England’s 6th consecutive victory against South Africa in all competitions in a run of form that began in December 2000. In their 2004 match against each other, it was Charlie Hodgson who was the star of the show, with the fly-half scoring no less than 27 points for his country after scoring a try, five penalties, a drop goal, and two conversions. Mark Cueto was also able to score a try for England.

South Africa did get a try through Bryan Habana, whilst Percy Montgomery was able to get a conversion and score a total of three penalties for the visitors on that day.

Excitement and anticipation are building ahead of this game between Steve Borthwick’s England and Rassie Erasmus’ South Africa at the Allianz Stadium, Twickenham in their latest game of the 2024 Autumn Nations Series on Saturday 16th November in a 17:40 Kick-Off.

There is no better way to watch world-class rugby than with an Eventmasters VIP Hospitality Package. Book now to avoid disappointment!