Ken Borland

England captain Chris Robshaw will miss the third and final Test against South Africa on Saturday after he cracked a thumb in the second Test in Johannesburg last weekend, coach Stuart Lancaster confirmed on Monday.

Lancaster said Robshaw took a blow to the thumb in the first Test in Durban and then another blow in the second Test. Scans of the thumb on Monday revealed an undisplaced fracture and the medical advice was that the openside flank should not play in the third Test in Port Elizabeth on Saturday so as to avoid possible surgery.

Hooker Dylan Hartley will take over the captaincy, Lancaster told a news conference in Johannesburg on Monday.

“It’s disappointing to lose our captain and also such an influential player. Last August Chris was not even in the World Cup squad and what he has done since then has just been outstanding. He will now miss just his third game this season which, playing in such an attritional position, is amazing.

“But Dylan has always been part of the leadership group, he’s driven training, he’s the first-choice in his position, respected by the players and captain at Northampton,” Lancaster said.

Robshaw has been a tremendous force at the breakdowns, despite England’s two narrow defeats in the first two Tests, but potential replacements Thomas Waldrom and James Haskell have both produced powerful performances on tour already. Phil Dowson is also expected to return to training this week after a tight hamstring kept him off the replacements’ bench for the second Test.

Lancaster also announced the England team to play a tour match against the SA Northern Barbarians in Potchefstroom on Tuesday, with the most notable selection being that of Lee Dickson at scrumhalf.

The coach said Dickson will use the match to get some crucial game time following the shoulder injury that has forced Test scrumhalf Ben Youngs out of the tour.

Dickson has been on the bench for the first two Tests and will be competing with the experienced, livewire halfback Danny Care for a place in the starting XV for the final Test.

“It’s a useful opportunity for people who need some game time, like Lee Dickson. He’s desperate to play and he was always going to start this game. We’ll probably take him off to protect him at half-time,” Lancaster said.

Lee Dickson’s older brother Karl, who arrived in South Africa on Monday morning as the replacement for Youngs, will then replace him.

The midweek team will once again be led by lock George Robson and shows six changes from the side that beat the SA Southern Barbarians last week, including a start for British and Irish Lions wing Ugo Monye, who has recovered from a hamstring niggle.

“We want to finish with two wins this week, finish on a high. It’s important to finish on a high note,” Robson stated.

Team – 15-Nick Abendanon, 14-Christian Wade, 13-Anthony Allen, 12-Jordan Turner-Hall, 11-Ugo Monye, 10-Charlie Hodgson, 9-Lee Dickson, 8-Ben Morgan, 7-Carl Fearns, 6-Jamie Gibson, 5-George Robson, 4-Graham Kitchener, 3-Paul Doran-Jones, 2-Tom Youngs, 1-Matt Mullan. Replacements: 16-Joe Gray, 17-Rupert Harden, 18-Mouritz Botha, 19-James Haskell, 20-Karl Dickson, 21-David Strettle, 22-Jonny May.

It took a moment of brilliance from wing JP Pietersen for South Africa to avoid the embarrassment of squandering a 28-10 lead and lose the second Test against England at Ellis Park in Johannesburg on Saturday.

The Springboks triumphed 36-27 after Pietersen’s 73^rd minute try – he began the move with a mazy run, bumping off defenders, from his own half – pulled them clear, but England deserve huge credit for their remarkable comeback.

In the first half, they were absolutely hammered up front by the power and ferocity of the Springbok ball-carriers, but they fronted up manfully in the second half and, with the home side disrupted by unfortunate injuries, they came roaring back.

“It was a golden moment for me, I played some of my best rugby tonight, both on attack and defence,” Pietersen said. “But in the second half we dropped our concentration and we had to scramble to contain some line breaks. That’s when work-rate comes first for your team, you need to help when they’re getting tired.”

It was little short of assault in the first half as the Springboks dominated the collisions, earning three tries.

“We had a good first half, we wanted speed on the ball and to run hard, to get momentum,” eighthman Pierre Spies said.

“We were much more clinical at the rucks, especially in the first half, and we were better, more accurate, at the breakdown.”

Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer praised new captain Jean de Villiers for keeping control of a tense situation in the second half.

“We learnt a lot out there, panic could have set in but Jean 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,” Meyer said.

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.

South Africa wing JP Pietersen started and ended the match-winning move as the Springboks cut short a stirring England revival and won the second Test 36-27 (half-time 25-10) at Ellis Park on Saturday.

South Africa dominated the first half and had stretched their lead to 28-10 after 47 minutes before England clawed their way back to 31-27 down with 15 minutes remaining. But their comeback was truncated when Pietersen set off from his own half on a mazy run, bumping off defenders, and putting the Springboks on attack. After several phases and a strong drive by eighthman Pierre Spies, the ball went quickly wide for Pietersen to dive over for the match-winning try.

The Springbok forwards had pounded England with their direct, powerful running in the first half, earning tries for bruising flank Willem Alberts, hooker Bismarck du Plessis and scrumhalf Francois Hougaard.

South Africa led 22-3 after the first quarter and, facing the sternest examination at a daunting Highveld venue, England showed their character by fighting back through two tries by scrumhalf Ben Youngs and one by flyhalf Toby Flood, who also scored three conversions and two penalties in a faultless goal-kicking display.

But the single moment of magic of Pietersen denied England the reward of a sensational comeback victory.

South Africa’s physical dominance was obvious from the outset as they held the ball through 12 phases after the kickoff, bashing their way to within a couple of metres from the tryline before the ball was knocked-on.

England dominated the resulting scrum, referee Alain Rolland failing to penalise the going-to-ground of the Springbok front row, and the lack of control of the ball led to it popping out, Alberts picking up and scoring the simplest of tries in the fourth minute.

The strong driving and direct running of the Springboks soon had them back on attack and Du Plessis was driven over from close range for the second try in the eighth minute.

England then showed some mettle with ball in hand as they stretched the Springbok defence, fullback Pat Lambie making a crucial tackle in the last line of defence to prevent a try, but the visitors did earn a penalty soon afterwards, which Flood kicked (3-12).

A great pass over the top from inside centre Francois Steyn to wing Pietersen, whose clever chip had England scrambling in their 22, forced Youngs to carry the ball over his own line as he could not escape from Springbok captain Jean de Villiers. From the five-metre scrum, South Africa earned a penalty, which Morne Steyn kicked in the 16th minute (15-3).

The Springboks earned a third try five minutes later after another spell of top-class driving by the forwards created a gap close to the line which scrumhalf Hougaard spotted.

England, 22-3 down, finally notched a try in the 24th minute after they were awarded a ruck penalty in midfield. The awareness of Young and wing Chris Ashton, bursting through to take the pass, created the space for Flood to run in the try, which he converted.

Morne Steyn added a well-taken drop goal in the 28th minute, but England were alive, only just, at 10-25 down at the break.

But South Africa lost some core players in the second half due to injury, most notably Alberts, who put his body on the line in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to stop Youngs from scoring his first try, after Du Plessis had overthrown a lineout.

The Springboks will also be disappointed that basic mistakes crept into their game in the second half, and England were able to punish them.

Their scrum regained their pride by earning a couple of penalties, one of which was in range for Flood, and the lineout then got their rolling maul going to allow Youngs to dive over for his second try to close the gap to 22-31 with 16 minutes remaining.

Flood kicked the conversion and almost immediately followed up with a long-range penalty as England began playing with more and more confidence.

But Pietersen than came up with his game-changing run and England were left with more work still to do before next weekend’s final Test.

Scorers

South Africa – Tries: Willem Alberts, Bismarck du Plessis, Francois Hougaard, JP Pietersen. Conversions: Morne Steyn (2). Penalties: Steyn (3). Drop goal: Steyn.

England – Tries: Toby Flood, Ben Youngs (2). Conversions: Flood (3). Penalties: Flood (2).