Farrell fluffs chance to snatch victory for England

PORT ELIZABETH, South Africa (AFP) –

South Africa’s Wynand Olivier (C) is tackled by an England player during the a test match at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth. The match ended in a 14-14 draw.

Replacement fly-half Owen Farrell fluffed a stoppage-time drop goal attempt as England drew 14-14 with South Africa Saturday in the final game of a three-Test series.

The Springboks won the series 2-0 after victories in Durban and Johannesburg, but came under massive post-hooter pressure at a wet Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in this coastal city.

With the visitors unable to find a way through the green and gold defence, the ball was passed back to Farrell, whose attempt was low and wide to the relief of most in a capacity 45,000 crowd.

Usually deadly South African goal kicker and fly-half Morne Steyn had another off-day, missing three of six shots at goal, and a late drop-goal attempt that failed prompted boos from some spectators.

Steyn kicked three penalties and right-wing JP Pietersen scored his second try in as many Tests for the Springboks while scrum-half Danny Care crossed the line for England and Farrell (twice) and fly-half Toby Flood kicked penalties.

England’s Alex Goode (R) tackles South Africa’s Gio Aplon during a test match at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth. South Africa and England drew 14-14 Saturday in the final Test of a three-match series won 2-0 by the Springboks.

The result ended a run of nine consecutive victories by South Africa over England since 2006 and was only the second draw between the countries in 35 Tests with the first 106 years ago at Crystal Palace in London.

“Credit to England who played well, but we were disappointing. We were not good enough tonight and must look hard at ourselves. Our option taking was poor,” admitted Springbok skipper and outside centre Jean de Villiers.

Rival captain and England hooker Dylan Hartley said: “We grafted and our defence and ball retention was good, but we could not get the result we desperately wanted. The team have learnt a lot from this tour.”

England were ahead in less than two minutes as South Africa got caught offside and Flood kicked a simple penalty before missing a second, more difficult attempt.

With seven minutes gone the teams were level as another offside infringement offered Steyn the chance to kick his first penalty on a ground where he scored all 18 points in a triumph over New Zealand last year.

An attempted clearance kick by Steyn that was blocked by impressive No 8 Thomas Waldrom led to England regaining the lead after 11 minutes through a try from former English rugby ‘bad boy’ Care.

The charge down led to England bursting down the centre and when the home team were penalised, Care spotted a gap, took a tap penalty and dived over between prop Jannie du Plessis and lock Eben Etzebeth.

Flood saw his conversion drift just left of the far post and Steyn cut the deficit to two points with another successful penalty kick on 16 minutes as the English pack continued to be whistled at rucks and mauls.

England’s James Haskell (Top C) tries to catch the ball during the a test match between against South Africa at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth. The match ended in a 14-14 draw.

Steyn missed his third penalty kick while England found themselves down to a third-choice fly-half with Alex Goode coming forward from full-back as injuries sidelined Flood permanently and replacement Farrell temporarily.

Farrell, axed following the first Test loss in Durban, returned after Steyn kicked a 28th-minute penalty to edge the Springboks 9-8 ahead and close the opening-half scoring.

But it could have been a wider margin at the break as a multi-phase attack by the Springboks brought them close to the English line before 20-year-old Etzebeth knocked on.

Both teams had penalty chances within the first 10 minutes of the second half and while Farrell made no mistake from close range, Steyn fluffed a more difficult opportunity.

After numerous warnings to the English forwards for infringements, Australian referee Steve Walsh lost his patience on 51 minutes and yellow carded New Zealand-born Hartley.

South Africa spent a lot of time in the England half and were rewarded just past the hour mark when line-out possession led to an assault on the line and a skip pass from replacement scrum-half Ruan Pienaar sent Pietersen over.

Steyn failed to convert from far out, but the Springboks were ahead 14-11 only for England to level when Farrell kicked his second close-range penalty eight minutes from time.