Springboks show muscle to outclass England at Ellis Park

South Africa start their bid to win inaugural Nations Championship with crushing victory over England; Springboks, without Siya Kolisi and Eben Etzebeth, outscore England seven tries to three as Steve Borthwick's side suffocated at altitude in Johannesburg

>South Africa ran in seven tries in a brutal 45-21 victory over England in their Nations Championship opener in Johannesburg.

>England were staring another ominous defeat in the face from the moment tries from Thomas du Toit, Cheslin Kolbe and Kurt-Lee Arendse saw the Springboks storm into a 17-point lead inside 12 minutes at Ellis Park.

>England valiantly clawed themselves back into contention, reducing the deficit to three points by half-time after stunning solo finishes from prop Ellis Genge and lock George Martin.

>But South Africa ruthlessly reasserted their authority, with tries from Grant Williams and Jesse Kriel within 16 minutes of the restart.

>A depleted England - reduced to 13 men after Tommy Freeman and Guy Pepper were shown yellow cards - were put further to the sword at the death by late scores from Malcolm Marx and Ben-Jason Dixon.

>Both sides suffered late withdrawals before a blow was even landed at Ellis Park. George Furbank's return for England was halted by appendicitis, with Marcus Smith drafted in at full-back, while South Africa lost talismanic captain Siya Kolisi and lock Eben Etzebeth right before kick-off.

>Pieter-Steph du Toit deputised as captain in Kolisi's absence and his namesake, Bath prop Thomas du Toit, delivered lift-off for the Springboks, powering over for the opening score inside three minutes.

>There was no respite for England as South Africa's brutal start and display of power continued. A trundling line break from prop Ox Nche ended with Kolbe, on his 50th Test appearance, side-stepping around Cadan Murley for the Springboks' second try in the sixth minute.

>South Africa's third visit into England's 22 yielded a third try, with Arendse breaking through Marcus Smith's tackle and dotting down in the corner to compound a sobering opening 12 minutes for Steve Borthwick's team.

>But having weathered an almighty Springboks storm, England staged a stirring comeback to completely change the complexion of the Test match before the break.

>After seeing captain Jamie George's try disallowed after he was adjudged to have gathered and grounded the ball at the base of a ruck from an offside position, England gave South Africa a taste of their own medicine.

>A brutal display of strength saw Genge sit opposite number Du Toit on his backside before breaking through two tackles to apply the finishing touch to a stunning solo score from a tap-and-go penalty.

>And after Fin Smith's kick to touch on the cusp of half-time was ruled a 50:22, lock Martin was released down the left channel, where he bulldozed through Jasper Wiese and Kolbe for a converted try that slashed South Africa's lead to three points.

>South Africa returned after the interval with renewed vigour and produced another devastating start to blow England away for the second time.

>Scrum-half Williams threw a superb dummy to snipe over from the base of a ruck and establish a 10-point Springboks lead before Jesse Kriel crossed in the corner to stretch it to three scores.

>Coles crossed for England's third try with 12 minutes remaining, but two yellow cards in as many minutes for winger Freeman, for shoulder-to-head contact on Damian Willemse, and back-rower Pepper, for repeated penalty infringements, undid all of their hard work.

>Hooker Marx then scored his 27th Test try from a driving maul before forward Dixon touched down for South Africa's seventh for the final word in a dominant Springboks display.

>England captain Jamie George: "The overriding messages after were we showed a lot of fight and character to stay in the game, and then we let it slip at times.

>"What we see at the top end - we're playing at the double world champions - is the game is fine margins.

>"If we get into the sort of battle South Africa want - contestable kicking and capitalising on that - it's pretty hard to get out of it.

>"We looked threatening at times, so it's just our ability to make sure we keep doing that. Genuinely, I think we will be a better team off the back of this experience."

>South Africa captain Pieter-Steph du Toit: "It was a tough game.

>"That's the thing about England, we always know they are going to come back and won't stop fighting. We just had to keep to our plans and execute them to perfection.

>"Unfortunately, we lost a bit of control in the second part of the first half, but by the end of the game we made ourselves proud."

>England return home to face Fiji at Everton's Hill Dickinson Stadium (2.10pm) before South Africa host Scotland in Pretoria (4.40pm) on Saturday, July 11.