This final Test of the year against top-level opposition showcased the positives and negatives that have run through a mixed autumn for England.
Fly-half Marcus Smith, whose attacking verve has been an undoubted plus point for coach Borthwick, carved open the Springboks on his first visit to the South Africa 22m, evading Eben Etzebeth and Ox Nche before Henry Slade’s quick hands put Sleightholme into the corner.
But England’s good work was soon undone as the individual errors and systemic failings that have pockmarked this month surfaced once more.
First, Springbok scrum-half Williams sauntered through some soft fringe defence and nonchalantly rounded Steward to go under the posts.
Six minutes later England scrum-half Jack van Poortvliet, under relentless pressure from the South Africa forwards, was charged down by Etzebeth.
Smith, attempting to clear the mess and his line, fired his own kick straight into Du Toit and the South Africa flanker gratefully dropped on the ball for his side’s second score and a 12-10 lead.
Sniffing blood, South Africa soon turned down two presentable penalties, opting to kick for the corner rather than posts. Their instinct proved accurate.
A line-out trick-play and a couple of forward surges sucked in England’s defence and, just at the point when it seemed the Boks were going to crash through the front door, they burgled a try out wide, with a touchline-hugging Kolbe stepping Steward after being picked out by Manie Libbok’s cross-kick.
England roused themselves as a mighty George Martin carry put the Boks into retreat and cleared the way for Underhill to barge over off a clever angled run and cut the Springbok lead to two points.
But the game remained frustratingly out of the hosts’ grasp. Ellis Genge’s battle with Wilco Louw at the scrum turned South Africa’s way, with referee Andrew Brace twice pinging the England loose-head. Etzebeth continued to loom large over Van Poortvliet, hounding the Leicester nine and disrupting England’s plans to exit their own territory.
For a while, the Boks could not claim the contest either. Kurt-Lee Arendse scampered into the corner, only to be called back for an Aphelele Fassi forward pass. The arrival of their ‘bomb squad’ replacements off the bench failed to strengthen their grip on the set-piece.
England thought they had the lead after beating the blitz and getting Henry Slade in out wide, but the TMO spotted a Maro Itoje neck roll and wiped it off the board.
Smith then did slot a penalty to put England ahead on 51 minutes, before Pollard bounced one off the crossbar to reclaim it on 58 minutes.
It seemed all set to boil into a claustrophobically close finale, just as the pair’s meeting in Paris did a year ago.
Instead South Africa opened up and stretched clear. Damian de Allende punched a hole and Kolbe danced inside Sleightholme shortly after the hour and, even down to 14 men with prop Gerhard Steenekamp in the sin-bin in the closing stages, the Boks never lost the upper hand.
The hosts had chances. Luke Cowan-Dickie was penalised for a dummy line-out throw within sight of the South Africa line. Vincent Koch secured a turnover after Itoje was scragged at the base to end another promising attack.
England’s mistakes had given South Africa a lifeline after their electric start. And ultimately it was their mistakes that severed hopes of snatching the match late on.