England endured a fifth straight Test defeat after a rollercoaster night at Ellis Park ended with South Africa turning on the power to emerge emphatic 45-21 winners.
The Springboks lost captain Siya Kolisi and second-row enforcer Eben Etzebeth to injury just hours before kick-off but still started like a freight train to build a 17-0 lead inside 12 minutes.
England initially looked overawed by the occasion as they sought only their second victory at the spiritual home of South African rugby, but once shaken from their stupor they roared back into contention with tries by Ellis Genge and George Martin.
Martin’s marauding finish down the left touchline was a highlight of the night, but the world champions then went up a gear with their path to victory made simpler when England were forced to play with the last seven minutes with 13 men after Tommy Freeman and Guy Pepper had been sent to the sin-bin.
Inevitably Steve Borthwick’s men were blown away late on in a bitterly disappointing start to the Nations Championship that was a step backwards after they had thrilled in defeat against France in March.
Fiji and Argentina are the next assignments to come on their 25,000-mile July tour and Borthwick will faced renewed questions over his future unless the losing run is halted soon, meaning next weekend’s clash with the Pacific Islanders at Everton now looms awfully large.
Losing George Furbank to appendicitis on Friday is another setback the head coach could do without and the full-back is likely to be ruled out of the rest of the month’s action.
South Africa’s last Test was a 73-0 drubbing of Wales in November but the suggestion they would need time to blow away the cobwebs was immediately dispelled.
From the start they were faster and more physical in every aspect of the game and by the 12th minute they had run in three tries to leave shell-shocked England chasing shadows.
It took 137 seconds for Thomas du Toit to open the scoring from close range, but the real danger had been caused by Manie Libbok and Damian Willemse running into space.
Wings Cheslin Kolbe and Kurt-Lee Arendse added the next two tries as South Africa continued to play at a furious pace, although they were helped by some poor defending that saw Ox Nche charge through tackles by Jamie George and Ollie Chessum.
England’s error count was also proving costly against opponents who were looking to run the ball at every opportunity, but 13 minutes in they began to stir.
For the first time they strung some phases together and once a George try had been disallowed for offside, Genge powered over at a time when Arendse was in the sin-bin for a deliberate knock-on.
England had the wind in their sails with Cadan Murley finding space and pressure steadily building on the home 22 when on the stroke of half-time Martin bumped off two tackles in a try-scoring run down the left wing.
South Africa struck first after the interval when forceful forward drives were rounded off by Grant Williams and in the 57th minute Jesse Kriel sped into the corner when holes opened up in the visitors’ defence.
It was looking bleak for England again but they hit back through Alex Coles before Freeman was sent to the sin-bin for an upright hit on Willemse and Pepper followed him into the stands because of a late tackle.
On the next play the Springboks produced an unstoppable maul finished by Malcolm Marx, before BJ Dixon completed the rout with a powerful finish.
England now face a flight back to the UK and a crucial week of build-up ahead of a wounded Fiji heading to the Hill-Dickinson Stadium off the back of a frustrating defeat to Wales.
