Springboks overcome late injury blow to beat England in Nations Championship opener

Bok fans were rocked by the news that captain Siya Kolisi and fellow centurion Eben Etzebeth had both been withdrawn from the starting line-up shortly before kick-off.

While such a significant double blow might have rocked other sides, this is a Springbok team more than capable of rolling with the punches, and with players like debutant Paul de Villiers and Cameron Hanekom stepping in, they weren't exactly short of quality replacements.

Still, this was far from a vintage Bok performance, and with Pieter-Steph du Toit hastily moved to lock to accommodate Etzebeth's absence, and Hanekom coming off the bench to join De Villiers in a new-look loose trio, the disruption likely played its part.

But while England showed flashes of brilliance, they never looked comfortable with the Boks' combination of brute force and aerial strength, and spent most of the game on the back foot before fading late.

With fears of a half-empty Ellis Park proving unfounded, the Springboks and their supporters played their part in launching their Nations Championship campaign - and 2026 season - in memorable fashion.

How it happened

An early breakdown penalty put the Boks on the front foot, before some slick handling from the backline released Damian Willemse, who nearly made it to the line before a few pick-and-goes ended with Thomas du Toit barrelling over for the opening try.

The Boks were soon back on the attack, a barnstorming run from Ox Nche sending them back into the 22 before Damian de Allende sucked in a few defenders and released Cheslin Kolbe, who produced a trademark step before darting over for the Boks' second try.

England were struggling to gain any kind of foothold in the match, and when another penalty allowed Manie Libbok to kick for the corner, it wasn't long before the Boks were in again, Kurt-Lee Arendse fending off Marcus Smith out wide to cross over again..

After a blistering start, however, a few unforced errors started creeping in from the Boks, while Kurt-Lee Arendse was shown a somewhat questionable yellow card for a deliberate knockdown.

England began to gain more territory with a series of probing kicks in behind the Springbok defence, and the pressure eventually told as Ellis Genge barged over for their opening try.

Just before half-time, there was more joy for the visitors as George Martin went over in the corner after a terrific 50-22 from Fin Smith, who converted the try to make it 17-14 at the break, with the Boks left to wonder how they had let their fantastic start slip.

The Boks needed a strong response to the second half and they found it through a relentless 20-phase assault on the English line, which finally ended with Grant Williams going over for their bonus-point try, before Kolbe added the extras to restore a 10-point cushion.

But a mistake straight from the restart handed England an immediate attacking opportunity, and the Springboks were fortunate to escape when the visitors knocked on with the tryline beckoning.

Not long after, it was England's turn to be on the receiving end once again as a series of powerful forward drives created the opening for Jesse Kriel to cross for the Springboks' fifth try. Kolbe then slotted an excellent conversion from out wide to give the hosts some breathing room once again.

With a little over 10 minutes to play, however, England hit back with a well-worked try from Alex Coles close to the posts to bring them back to within 10 points.

But their joy was short-lived as they suddenly found themselves two men down with a series of back-to-back yellow cards, one for a high tackle followed by another for an early tackle moments later.

The Boks didn't need a second invitation to kick for the corner and take full advantage of their numerical superiority, Malcolm Marx crashing over from the back of a textbook rolling maul to make sure of the victory.

The Boks were finishing like a house on fire, and there was time for one more try before the final whistle, Ben-Jason Dixon going over as England paid the price for those two late sin-binnings.