Ken Borland

South Africa coach Heyneke Meyer said England should be proud of their “guts and commitment” after the Springboks withstood a fierce second-half comeback to win the second Test 36-27 and clinch the series at Ellis Park on Saturday.

The Springboks used their big ball-carriers to batter England in the first half, stretching their lead to 28-10 early in the second half, before the visitors fought back to within four points at 31-27. It took an inspired try by wing JP Pietersen to seal victory for the South Africans.

“England can be really proud of their performance, especially at altitude. I don’t want to take anything away from them, they always come back. You can’t coach guts and commitment and in the Six Nations you could see England had lots of energy. They’re a young team and they will make mistakes, but they never say die and I knew we would really battle against them,” Meyer told a news conference after the test.

Meyer said part of the Springboks’ second-half fade was due to their set-pieces being disrupted by injuries. Tighthead prop Jannie du Plessis, lock Juandre Kruger and flank Willem Alberts all left the field in the second half.

“The first half was excellent, we played some great bits of rugby, but in the second half we lost momentum because of poor set-pieces.”

England coach Stuart Lancaster said that despite the defeat, the performance showed he had invested in the right players.

“I was delighted with the attitude in the second half, after we were definitely hanging on by our fingernails in the first half, and the fact that frustration was the over-riding emotion afterwards is a good thing. There was some pride mixed in there because of the comeback, but no sense of ‘good job, we almost won’.

“Some areas were better tonight and we can really take some positives out of here and we also learnt more about the players. The scrum began to take control and when we moved the ball, we caused their defences some trouble.

“More experience will give these guys a huge amount, especially a sense of how to manage the game in tense situations,” Lancaster said.

“I guarantee this team has another game left in them and they’ll be eager to have another crack in Port Elizabeth, that’s the good thing about a three-Test series.”

Meyer said the hard-fought win, after seemingly being in firm control, was a good lesson for his team, which is rebuilding after losing the core of two World Cup sides.

“We played really well in the first half, we wanted to up the tempo, but you have to grind out Test rugby, it’s not SuperRugby where you’re just going to score a lot of tries.

“We learnt a lot out there, panic could have set in but Jean de Villiers [captain] did really well. I would rather have this sort of win than 80 minutes of SuperRugby and then the team lose in this sort of situation later on,” the former Bulls coach said.

Pietersen said his match-winning try, after he ended the move he started by bumping off defenders on a mazy run from his own half, was one of the highlights of his 44-Test career.

“It was a golden moment for me, I played some of my best rugby tonight, both on attack and defence,” Pietersen said.

Having scored in the 73rd minute, Pietersen’s work was not done yet as he also had to tackle a rampaging Thomas Waldrom, the 111kg replacement loose forward, into touch close to the tryline in the dying moments.

“Credit to South Africa and to Heyneke Meyer: they’re a pretty formidable team and they’re playing as one unit, you can see how cohesive they are. They run hard at you, narrow you and then they move the ball,” Lancaster said.

England play a tour match against the SA Northern Barbarians in Potchefstroom, 123km from Johannesburg, on Tuesday night before relocating to the south-eastern coastal city of Port Elizabeth for the third and final Test next Saturday.

Pat Lambie returns at fullback while prop Werner Kruger and wing Bjorn Basson come on to the bench in the only changes to South Africa’s side for the second Test against England, Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer announced on Wednesday.

Lambie, who came on for the second half of South Africa’s 22-17 first Test win over England in Durban, replaces the injured Zane Kirchner. The Sharks utility back was the starting fullback during the Springboks’ World Cup campaign last year.

Kruger is a tighthead prop who comes in for Coenie Oosthuizen, who can play on both sides of the scrum but suffered a neck injury last weekend that will keep him out of the rest of the series.

Dean Greyling, a similarly versatile front-ranker, was called into the squad this week, but Meyer told a news conference in Johannesburg on Wednesday that specialist Kruger had been brought into the 22 because starting tighthead Jannie du Plessis is being managed for a calf injury.

“Greyling is a very good impact player and can play both sides, but Jannie has a slight injury so we wanted specialist cover for him,” Meyer said.

The Springbok coach said he was not expecting to lose anything with Lambie replacing Kirchner.

“Pat’s a great player and still very young – people forget he’s just 21. He brings something different, more attacking options, and he had a superb second half last week. In training, he’s shown some brilliant touches in attack.

“Zane is a very good tactical kicker, but I’ve been meeting with Pat, who is also a great kicker, but I want him to improve his tactical kicking. He’s very good under the high ball and very good defensively even though he’s not very big, so we won’t lose much and I’m very confident he will do well,” Meyer said.

“I wanted to keep some continuity in the team because they played reasonably well last week and there are a lot of youngsters who will now know the game plan better,” Meyer said in explaining his decision to make just one injury-enforced change to the starting line-up.

Basson, who takes Lambie’s place on the bench, has claimed six test caps since making his debut in 2010 and his strength is in competing for the ball in the air.

Team – 15-Pat Lambie, 14-JP Pietersen, 13-Jean de Villiers, 12-Francois Steyn, 11-Bryan Habana, 10-Morne Steyn, 9-Francois Hougaard, 8-Pierre Spies, 7-Willem Alberts, 6-Marcell Coetzee, 5-Juandre Kruger, 4-Eben Etzebeth, 3-Jannie du Plessis, 2-Bismarck du Plessis, 1-Tendai Mtawarira. Bench: 16-Adriaan Strauss, 17-Werner Kruger, 18-Flip van der Merwe, 19-Keegan Daniel, 20-Ruan Pienaar, 21-Wynand Olivier, 22-Bjorn Basson.

England coach Stuart Lancaster said on Monday that he was delighted midweek games are in the tour schedule during their current trip to South Africa for three Tests.

England are playing a Southern Barbarians XV in Kimberley on Wednesday, before flying back to play the second Test against the Springboks in Johannesburg on Saturday. Next week they also play a midweek game, against the Northern Barbarians.

“The beauty of this tour is that there are opportunities in it to develop experience at the highest environment. It’s an opportunity to build a squad and work with the players. There’s nothing better for a coach than to coach players in a game situation,” Lancaster told a news conference in Johannesburg on Monday.

“There may be an element of distraction from the Test match because instead of having a day off on Wednesday, the whole squad will now travel to Kimberley to provide support. We think that’s important and the challenge is to get the right balance and our attention directed at the right place at the right time. The pros far outweigh the cons and I’d like to do it again in future.”

The eye injury centre Brad Barritt sustained in the first Test in Durban has ruled him out of the second Test and Lancaster said the midweek match provided the ideal opportunity for him to build some midfield depth, particularly in the number 13 jersey.

“I’m playing what would be regarded as two specialist 12s on Wednesday because I want to look at Anthony Allen at 13. I want options for England there and Anthony played outside Brad Barritt in the Churchill Cup.

“The plan is that Anthony will move to 12 in the second half and George Lowe will come on at outside centre. It’s about creating opportunities for everyone and not pigeonholing them,” Lancaster said.

“We must have options in different positions and you don’t get the opportunity to work on that in international rugby – there’s no pre-season and very few warm-up matches.”

England are building a new-look backline, with Saturday’s combination for the first Test only having 98 caps between them, with 72 shared between three players – wings Ben Foden and Chris Ashton and scrumhalf Ben Youngs.

“I’m not afraid to give players chances if they show the right temperament. These lads are coming through as a group, but 13 is an area we still need to look at, we still need to find people to fit in there. Manu Tuilagi was predominantly a wing in age-group rugby,” Lancaster said.

England will also want to be more systematic with their kicking game in Kimberley, a city on the highveld that boasts a hard, dry playing surface, giving kickers extra distance.

“This morning’s review of the Test centred around the third quarter and our lack of composure, especially in terms of our exit strategies – a good kick and chase. Both the halfbacks took responsibility, it’s an honest group and we’ve identified areas we need to work on,” Lancaster said.

Jon Callard, the England kicking coach, said the problems were due to technical issues and breakdowns in communication.

“We had some technical issues but also some communication problems that need to be resolved. For the box kicks, the chasing group were sometimes ready for a move with ball-in-hand so, with the best will in the world, they’re not going to be able to reach a 50-metre kick.

“I thought we dealt with the ball in the air well and produced some good ball to play with from it,” Callard said.

The England team for the second Test will be announced on Thursday.

“We have some important decisions to make in the training tomorrow and then on Thursday we have to make sure the team is cohesive and ready to play,” Lancaster said.

England lost the first Test 17-22 in Durban and have not won at the Springboks’ Johannesburg fortress – Ellis Park – since the 18-9 victory in 1972.

England coach Stuart Lancaster on Monday named Harlequins lock George Robson as the captain for the midweek match against the Southern Barbarians in Kimberley on Wednesday.

Robson follows in the footsteps of club-mate Chris Robshaw, who led England in the first test against South Africa last weekend in Durban.

“George has had a tremendous season for Harlequins, has made a great contribution to this tour already, both in training and as part of the leadership group, and I know he will captain the team well,” Lancaster said.

The team to play the Southern Barbarians is a completely new one, with the whole England squad, save for wing Ugo Monye and prop Alex Corbisiero, getting game time in the first two matches of the tour.

England lost the first test 17-22 to the Springboks and Lancaster said he hoped the midweek team would help the squad to bounce back from that disappointment.

“Every one of the 22 is desperate to play. They have trained superbly and their attitude while waiting for their chance has been first-class. There is a lot of competition for places across the board and Wednesday gives these players a chance to lay down a marker and for the whole squad to build some momentum towards Saturday’s test. We need to make sure we get back on track,” Lancaster said.

The England coach admitted, however, that it was unlikely anyone playing in Wednesday’s match would come through and make the starting XV for the second test in Johannesburg on Saturday.

“We’re close to being finalised for the team for Saturday, but we are still looking at one or two players, although they are more likely to be on the bench for Saturday,” Lancaster told a news conference in Johannesburg on Monday.

With experienced players such as halfbacks Charlie Hodgson (38 test caps) and Danny Care (32 caps) and flank James Haskell (42 caps) in the midweek team, Lancaster said he was excited by the match.

“I’m really looking forward to the game. From the players’ point of view, obviously they’re just desperate to get out on the park, but for me it’s an opportunity to build a squad and work with the players. There’s nothing better for a coach than to coach players in a game situation,” Lancaster said.

The former England Saxons head coach said he was playing two inside centres – Anthony Allen and Jordan Turner-Hall – in midfield on Wednesday because he wanted to develop England’s depth at outside centre.

“I’m playing what would be regarded as two specialist 12s because I want to look at Anthony Allen at 13. I want options for England there and Anthony played outside Brad Barritt in the Churchill Cup.

“The plan is that he will move to 12 in the second half and George Lowe will come on at outside centre. It’s about creating opportunities for everyone and not pigeonholing them,” Lancaster said.

The midweek team’s starting line-up includes seven players who have not yet played test rugby for England – fullback Alex Goode, wing Christian Wade, hooker Joe Gray, locks Graham Kitchener and Robson, flank Carl Fearns and New Zealand-born eighthman Thomas Waldrom.

Team – 15-Alex Goode, 14-David Strettle, 13-Anthony Allen, 12-Jordan Turner-Hall, 11-Christian Wade, 10-Charlie Hodgson, 9-Danny Care. 8-Thomas Waldrom, 7-Carl Fearns, 6-James Haskell, 5-George Robson, 4-Graham Kitchener, 3-Paul Doran-Jones, 2-Joe Gray, 1-Mutt Mullan. Replacements: 16-Tom Youngs, 17-Rupert Harden, 18-Tom Palmer, 19-Jamie Gibson, 20-Lee Dickson, 21-George Lowe, 22-Nick Abendanon.