Ken Borland

South Africa lost the plot in the afternoon and found themselves in desperate trouble after the second day of the second Test against England at Old Trafford on Friday, needing 241 more runs just to make the hosts bat again.

Openers Sarel Erwee (12*) and Dean Elgar (11*) will resume in the morning on 23 without loss but the skipper will not only be contemplating the massive mountain in front of his team, but also his own decision-making in the field.

England amassed 415/9 declared in their first innings thanks to inspired centuries by captain Ben Stokes and wicketkeeper Ben Foakes, who added a match-defining 173 for the sixth wicket.

They came together in an intriguing morning session in which fast bowler Anrich Nortje made two early inroads into the England batting by dismissing Jonny Bairstow (49) and Zak Crawley (38), both edging excellent deliveries that angled in and then nipped away to be caught behind the wicket.

That left England on 147/5 and South Africa were still four runs ahead. But Stokes and Foakes batted with great clarity and composure, digging in until the hosts went into lunch on 212/5.

With the lead now already 61, one imagined the talk in the South African dressingroom over lunch would have been all about hitting England hard straight after the break to try and get the tail in to bat as soon as possible.

But incredibly, the on-fire Nortje was not brought on until after spinners Simon Harmer and Keshav Maharaj had bowled for 35 minutes, allowing Stokes and Foakes to get themselves properly in at the crease.

Having established control, Stokes and Foakes then batted with more freedom as the Proteas became more and more desperate shopping for a breakthrough, four reviews not going their way.

Stokes went to his fourth century in 14 Tests against South Africa, but fell for 103 as he tried to slog Kagiso Rabada. One of the most competitive cricketers in the world had produced a masterclass in playing the situation, his judgement of when to attack and when to defend solidly being well-nigh perfect.

Foakes batted on for his second Test century and ended with a career-best 113 not out, a determined innings of great value for his team, in which he targeted his favoured leg-side with nifty footwork and fine shots, collecting nine fours.

Nortje’s bowling – he finished with 3/82 in 20 overs – and the fact that England were unable to buy a wicket in the nine overs they bowled at South Africa before stumps, were about the only positives for the Proteas on a second day that somehow managed to be worse than their opening day woes.

England were able to cap South Africa’s first-innings lead at 161, but were under real pressure as they lost two early wickets in their second innings, taking lunch on 38/2 on the third day of the first Test at Lord’s on Friday.

Lungi Ngidi and Kagiso Rabada once again produced a top-class display of new-ball bowling, gaining a substantial amount of late movement, as they put openers Alex Lees and Zak Crawley through hell. Rabada should have had a wicket in the third over when Lees, on 4*, edged a loose drive which was heading straight into the hands of Aiden Markram at second slip. But Keegan Petersen at third slip showed a lack of good judgement as he dived one-handed in front of Markram and dropped the catch.

Given how much Crawley and Lees had struggled against the seaming and swinging ball, it was a surprise when Proteas captain Dean Elgar introduced left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj as early as the eighth over.

But Maharaj struck with his third ball, relieving Crawley of his torture as he trapped him lbw for 13 as he missed a sweep.

Maharaj then picked up a second wicket on the stroke of lunch, removing first-innings top-scorer Ollie Pope for just 5, also to an lbw decision, albeit on review. Pope shaped to come forward but then went back to work the ball leg-side, which was a fatal error as the ball zipped straight on into his pads.

South Africa began the day on 289/7, leading by 124, and they were rocked early on as Stuart Broad took a sensational catch at wide midwicket, leaping one-handed to dismiss Rabada for 3 on the third ball of the day, bowled by Matthew Potts.

England’s bowlers were over-reliant on the short ball against Marco Jansen and Anrich Nortje, and the pair added another useful 29 runs for the ninth wicket.

Nortje fought his way through the barrage and then played some plucky strokes as he ended with 28 not out, a great contribution down the order.

Jansen, who batted so well in pushing England back when they were on the front foot on the second evening, battled to be as fluent and eventually fell on a career-best 48, edging Broad into the slips.

South Africa were all out for 326 with Broad finishing with 3/71 in 19.1 overs and the ever-reliable Ben Stokes ending with the same figures off 18 overs.

With the 2022 Rugby Championship now two weeks away, we take a look at the form of the four teams involved, with today’s focus on Australia.

What they did in July

Following an incredible win (30-28) in the opening Test of their series against England, with 14 men and key injury disruptions, Australia then lost the second (17-25) and third Tests (17-21) to allow the tourists to keep the Ella-Mobbs [formerly Cook] Cup they have had since 2012.

In the first Test, in Perth, Australia lost lock Darcy Swain to a red card in the 34^th minute and had already lost flyhalf Quade Cooper just before kickoff with a calf strain. Prop Allan Alaalatoa went off in the first half with concussion and fullback Tom Banks broke his arm. But a remarkable second half saw the Wallabies score three tries in the last 17 minutes to take control of the game, England scoring two consolation tries in and after the final minute.

Having beaten England for the first time since 2015, Australia went to Brisbane confident of wrapping up the series, but, beaten in the collisions and the territory battle, had to fight back from19-0 down to pile on the pressure at 17-22 against 14 men. But a key lineout miss saw England survive and then seal victory with a penalty.

The third Test again saw the Wallabies’ mount a rearguard action as they came back from 10-21 down in the final quarter, but still fell short.

What they did in the Champs in 2021

Coach Dave Rennie breathed new life into Australia’s challenge in the southern hemisphere competition as he steered them to second place and four successive wins in the tournament for the first time.

The Rugby Championship did not start well for the Wallabies, though, as they set a new low for most points conceded against the All Blacks, going down 57-22 at Eden Park to also allow their neighbours a 19^th-straight year of holding the Bledisloe Cup.

Another sparkling All Blacks display in Perth saw Australia lose 38-21, although the contest was closer with New Zealand scoring two intercept tries.

But with Quade Cooper restored at flyhalf and playing his first Test in four years, the Wallabies’ fortunes turned with successive wins against the Springboks.

Cooper snatched a 28-26 win on the Gold Coast with a long-range, angled penalty after the final hooter, and then backline stars Len Ikitau and Marika Koroibete both scored twice as Australia ran South Africa ragged in a 30-17 bonus point win in Brisbane.

A 27-8 victory over Argentina in Townsville and then a 32-17 triumph over the Pumas, wing Andrew Kellaway scoring a hat-trick, saw the Wallabies break new ground in the Rugby Championship.

Fixtures

August 6: Mendoza, v Argentina

August 13: San Juan, v Argentina

August 27: Adelaide, v South Africa

September 3: Sydney, v South Africa

September 15: Melbourne, v New Zealand

September 24: Auckland, v New Zealand

Having gambled and lost with his selection of Elton Jantjies at flyhalf, Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber bravely tried to limit the damage to his player’s confidence after the first Test against Wales at Loftus Versfeld.

Jantjies endured a miserable first half of skewed kicks out-of-hand, missed shots at goal and a dropped ball that led to a try, and was substituted before the start of the second half with the Springboks 18-3 down. Barring a few exceptions, the whole team had been sub-par in the first half, but with the help of pugnacious input from the bench, they staged a stirring comeback to win 32-29.

It is only right, though, that Nienaber stand up for Jantjies because the player was put in an invidious position by being selected for the first Test with, as the coach himself said after the game, “less than 30 minutes of game-time this year”.

I can understand why the risk was taken with Jantjies, who has only just recovered from a shoulder injury and whose club did not make the playoffs of Japan’s Rugby League One. The 31-year-old has also had the mental stress of being charged with malicious damage to property and contravention of the Aviation Act to deal with, before those charges were withdrawn after he agreed to pay for the damage he caused to an aeroplane flying back from Turkey.

Flyhalf is one of the few areas where the Springboks are lacking depth and the management were obviously planning ahead in case first-choice Handre Pollard suddenly gets injured. If Jantjies then had to come in and play with so little rugby under his belt, it could have been even worse.

The World Cup winner does now at least have 40 minutes of game-time, and hopefully the trauma of it has not dented his confidence too much.

Nienaber tried to sugarcoat his replacement as being because “he had given everything”, but when he said “he hasn’t played any rugby” he was closer to the reason why.

Despite the fan furore, Jantjies is still a player who has much to offer the Springboks. What he is capable of when in form definitely adds some attacking spark to a team which, for long periods of the first half against Wales, looked desperately in need of some offensive verve.

How he bounces back from this calamitous showing is what matters now.