England v South Africa: Tale of the tape

STAT ATTACK: With no Bongi Mbonambi versus Tom Curry narrative to keep us amused this week, we look at the statistics to whet your appetite for the England versus South Africa Test at Twickenham on Saturday.

To recap, Currie has been ruled out of the much-anticipated World Cup semifinal replay when he suffered a concussion against Australia last Saturday.

The flank – who was involved in the contentious and dubious racism in France – went to tackle Rob Valetini in the first half of the 37-42 loss to the Wallabies and got his head on the wrong side.

The blow he sustained left him exiting the field with less than 23 minutes played.

Curry and Mbonambi would have been the main theme of Saturday’s face-off.

The game in Paris just over a year ago (a 16-15 win for South Africa) resulted in the England flank accusing the Springbok hooker of racially abusing him during the first half at Stade de France.

Mbonambi was cleared by World Rugby of any wrongdoing, but that hasn’t stopped the British media of stirring the pot.

With their main narrative eliminated, they now have to focus on the game.

Back to the game.

Twickenham is #NOT such a scary place to play – at least not for the Springboks.

The teams have met 46 times since their first encounter – a three-all draw at Crystal Palace, in London, in December 1906.

That was also the only time England hosted South Africa at a venue other than Twickenham.

Of the 23 encounters at Twickers, 11 were won by the Roses and 12 by the Springboks.

The last Bok visit to London saw the Boks win 27-13 in November 2022.

Before that England had a three-match winning streak (27-26, November 2021, 12-11, November 2018 and 37-21, November 2016) – a run that followed a five-match streak by the Boks stretching back to 2007.

The Boks’ biggest winning margin was 48 points – 58–10 at the Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein in May 2007.

England’s biggest win was 50 points – 53-3 at Twickenham in November 2002.

The Boks’ biggest ‘away’ win over England was 36 – 36-0 in a World Cup pool match at Stade de France in Paris in September 2007 and 42-6 at Twickenham in November 2008.

England’s biggest away win was 19 points – 25-6 in a World Cup pool match at the Subiaco Oval in Perth in October 2003.

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