South Africa’s Opening Win of the 2026 Nations Championship Season
We look back at South Africa vs England in the 2026 Nations Championship at Ellis Park Stadium on Saturday, 4 July 2026.
Not even the 10-degree weather could dampen our spirits as Ellis Park Stadium filled for South Africa vs England in the opening match of the Nations Championship.
Breaking Down the First Half
After a fantastic Nkosi Sikelel lead by Jodi Fredericks and sung by every fan in Ellis Park, the Bokke took the field lead by Damian Willemse and Cheslin Kolbe who both celebrated their 50th test cap for the Springboks. The moment we all saw how slick Damian’s moustache was, we should’ve known the rest of his game was going to be just as smooth…
Right from kickoff The Bokke dominated the early game. I was delighted to see the Springboks charge down the English, putting pressure on them from the onset. This is exactly what the fans want from test rugby and the noise in the stadium spurred our boys in green and gold on! After a few phases of fantastic technical play from South Africa, Thomas De Toit managed to keep low and dot the ball over for the first Springbok try of the match in just under 2 minutes! Hell, maybe those 2500 rand sets were actually worth it!
Kolbe missed a tough conversation but made up for it later in the match. South Africa were immediately tested by the English who were spurred on by the Bokkes early try. England managed to drive South Africa back to within a ball hair of the SA try line but the Boks were calm and collected. Our boys put in tackle after tackle and after 20 phases finally managed to turn over the ball and kick for safety. The Springboks managed to win the ball and through a wonderful series of well times runs and kicks, Cheslin Kolbe managed to get the ball over the line after a stunning side step finish. What a boychi!
All eyes were on England’s Henry Pollock. The 21-year-old Northampton Saints flanker who has built a reputation for generating pre-match hype through his social media antics and the week leading up to the match was no different! I’m sure every single English fan was hoping Pollocks performance on the pitch would be as energetic and explosive as his instagram account… I think it was a very smart move for Steve Borthwick to go with the likes of Ben Earl, Tom curry and Ollie Chessum to balance the youngster’s enthusiasm with the backlines depth of experience.
After an exhilarating first 10 minutes, England did not look comfortable. They battled to deal with the Boks physicality, speed and well timed transitions and started to make mistakes. Eventually giving away penalty after penalty. They simply did not have an answer for the Boks who managed a 3rd try of the evening after a series of fantastic passing phases. The game hds not even reached 15 minutes and the Bokke were already 17-0 up. Truth be told, I started to worry that the Springboks would leave the English in the dust along with the Barbarians and Wales but that is not the mettle the English are made from.
England showed tremendous heart going through multiple phases of strong relentless attack before Jamie George the English Capitan, finally found a small gap in the Bokke defence to score a try to bring the score to 17-5. It was the first quiet moment of the evening in Ellis Park before James Dolan the referee, signalled that George had touched the ball in an offside position. The crowd erupted as the score reset to 17-0.
Both teams had last minute replacements with Englands Marcus Smith in for George Furbank who was ruled out after undergoing emergency surgery for appendicitis in South Africa. I guess the biltong was a bit too spicy for the stomach hey, Lad!
The Bokke also had last minute changes with Capitano Siya Kholisi pulling a hamstring during the captains run the day before and Eben Etzebeth out after sustaining a concussion during training.
Paul De Villiers and Cameron Hanekom were called up to take Siya and Eben’s place. Paul surely had to settle his nerves as this was his debut for the Bokke at Ellis Park.
This double change cost the Bokke a staggering 250 test caps with Eben and Siya out of the clash!
Second Half: Trying Challenges
Everything was going for the Springboks. Grant Williams utilised smart, high kicks from the rucks to alleviate pressure and gain ground for South Africa.
After a quarter of an hour the springboks were well on the march until an unfortunate yellow card for Kurt-Lee Arendse after a deliberate knock-on. England smelled blood and made fantastic use of the extra man to really test the South African defence. The English managed two ties through Ellis Genge and George Martin. Fin Smith had no problem with both conversions bring the score to a tight 17-14 right before half time. The Springboks really needed to assert themselves if they wanted to keep England from keeping in to the match.
The Second half saw the Boks come out firing! We managed to forced England into conceding 2 early penalties ultimately leading to another Springbok try. Just the buffer the Boks needed after the heat the English brought late in the first half. Grant Williams managed to blitz over the line for his 8th Springbok try. Well deserved after a fantastic first half.
England seemed close to coming back into the game but were unlucky after they received two yellow cards in quick succession. Tommy Freeman shoulder charged Damian Willemse to earn the first yellow which was followed by a yellow for Guy Pepper after an early tackle stopped proceedings. The pressure cooker of test rugby seemed too much for the English as they went down to 13 men. The Springboks made good use of the extra space created to score two more late tries through Malcolm Marx and Ben-Jason Dixon to finish 45-21 to the mighty Springboks.
What a fantastic start to the Nations Championship for Rassie and the boys. Viva the Bokke.
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