England pound out warning to Springboks

By CHRIS HEWETT

England 12 South Africa 12. Tries, that is. There are precious few other similarities between the two heavyweight cup pool C contenders after their first hit-outs against the lesser mortals of the Planet Union.

While the Springboks mishandled for a pastime against a Uruguayan side unable to offer the slightest resistance once the ball went wider than the halfback, England went long periods without making so much as a single mistake.

One extraordinarily disciplined 20-minute passage ended only when Barney Kenny, the physiotherapist, dropped a water bottle as he left the field after treating Phil Vickery.

The cup favourites were not absolutely spot-on in dealing with the Georgians in conditions rendered far more difficult than expected by a six-hour deluge that swept in off the Indian Ocean.

Much of their backline play was scratchy, thanks to a combination of mistimed passes, some "speculative" miscalculations - Will Greenwood's word - and some epic tackling from the opposition centres, Tedo Zibzibadze and Irakli Guiorgadze.

But their performance at the sharp end was beyond criticism, and by scrummaging the living daylights out of a side who cherish their tradition in that department, England drew their line in the sand for Sunday's meeting with the Boks.

Where South Africa struggled to subdue the Uruguayans at the set piece - indeed, they never managed to complete that particular task - the English front row of Trevor Woodman, Steve Thompson and an in-form Vickery confirmed themselves as a state-of-the-art unit capable of dominating every rival combination, with the obvious exception of the French.

They had their counterparts peering into their own nether regions from the opening moments and applied the coup de grace as early as the 46th minute, when Lawrence Dallaglio completed a pushover try near the posts.

Georgian scrum? What Georgian scrum?

"It was highly satisfying," agreed the forwards coach, Andy Robinson, with a frown. A peculiar guy, Robinson: the happier he is, the more angry he appears.

"The scrum is a key part of what we do," he continued, "and we set a lot of store by it. The Georgians started quite strongly, but tired because of the pace of the game. We, on the other hand, didn't let up for a second. In terms of statements and declarations of intent, it was very important for us."

Many of the most familiar components of the England operation were on view at the Subicao Oval. Jonny Wilkinson did not miss a kick - when he does fluff one, the Pope will probably seize on it as confirmation of the existence of miracles - and the defensive work was nearly as dependable, as the statistics proved: 40 completed tackles out of 41.

At the lineout, Ben Kay pilfered enemy ball at will; at the breakdown, both Matthew Dawson and Andy Gomarsall used their power to slip away from their markers.

If there was a dark side to the occasion, it was on the casualty front. Mike Tindall, who scored the opening try on 14 minutes from a smart Wilkinson cut-out pass, was gone before the interval, walking uneasily with a damaged calf muscle. Dawson went with him, his left knee the cause for concern, and by the end, Gomarsall was also limping around.

Thankfully, Greenwood emerged from the contest without a damaged you-know-what. In scoring his second try five minutes from time, he almost did himself a mischief as he crossed the line and after slipping his hand down his shorts to ensure everything was present and correct, he held up two reassuring fingers to the worried English contingent.

"I've never had so many text messages after a game in my life," he said afterwards. "My missus said I should have held up three fingers, just to impress people, but I don't think as quickly as her."

- INDEPENDENT