Arendse steers Boks to historic Twickenham win

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Kurt-Lee Arendse played a starring role as the Springboks ended their eight-year wait for a win against England at Twickenham in emphatic fashion on Saturday night.

Despite being reduced to 14 men in the 60th minute, the Springboks held on to claim a memorable 27-13 victory for the first win over England at the historic ground since 2014.

The win saw the Springboks end an inconsistent year with a fantastic result, that came as a result of a dominant first half against the hosts.

After Damian Willemse’s drop goal gave the South Africa a 6-3 lead in the 30th minute, the flyhalf combined with Wille le Roux to set Kurt-Lee Arendse off for the game’s first try.

Faf de Klerk slotted a second penalty to put the Boks 14-3 up at half-time and the visitors built on that in the second half when Willemse knocked over another drop goal before Eben Etzebeth forced his way over the tryline from close range.

With a 27-6 lead, it appeared as if the Springboks were cruising to victory, but the game turned on its head when replacement tighthead Thomas du Toit was red-carded for a dangerous tackle on England hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie.

England piled on the pressure, but the Boks stayed admirably firm in their own 22, with Arendse and Faf de Klerk making a couple of excellent desperation tackles to deny the home side.

Eventually the dam wall burst when Henry Slade went over from a quick-tap penalty, but that would only prove to be a consolation.

Photo: EPA/ANDY RAIN

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Dylan Jack