England and Springboks level at break
England 6, South Africa 6 HT
England and South Africa are level at 6-6 at half-time in their crunch Pool C encounter at the Subiaco Oval.
Springboks fly-half Louis Koen kicked off, but after Kyran Bracken secured possession, Jonny Wilkinson’s first kick to touch was a sliced effort.
It allowed South Africa an attacking platform, yet the Springboks conceded a penalty and England were able to comfortably clear the danger.
Wilkinson needed no second invitation to atone for his nervy opening, and when the Springboks were punished for not releasing, Wilkinson rifled over a superb 40-metre penalty for a 3-0 lead inside four minutes.
England looked threatening in open play, especially wing Jason Robinson, and the game’s initial collisions claimed a casualty when Springboks prop Richard Bands was forced off after seven minutes, to be replaced by Lawrence Sephaka.
England almost scored in the 11th minute when wing Ben Cohen freed Mike Tindall wide out, but a brilliant tackle from Muller kept South Africa’s line intact.
South Africa found themselves under increasing pressure. Referee Marshall though, was quick to punish players holding possession on the floor, and Back cost England ground through one indiscretion.
Bands returned to the action on 14 minutes, which sparked a promising South African field position. Van der Westhuizen’s wild pass though, meant that England had nothing to worry about.
Koen then had an attempted drop-goal charged down, and when England played possession off the floor, Koen found his range, making it 3-3 after a lively opening quarter neared its conclusion.
Jonny Wilkinson added another penalty in the 29th minute, but counterpart Koen missed two chances from the spot to put distance between the sides. The Transvaal flyhalf didn’t miss his next effort and leveled the sides on the stroke of half-time.
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