MARCUS Smith hailed the arrival of ‘New England' yesterday after Eddie Jones' youthful team took a measure of revenge on the world champions.
The precocious fly-half built on his summer Lions call-up by being the Autumn toast of Twickenham with the match winning penalty in the nail-biting 27-26 victory.
He admitted his crucial kick seconds from time not only happened in “slow motion” but has also made him hungry for more in the Six Nations.
England exorcised a few of the demons left over from that heart-breaking World Cup Final defeat. They had waited two years for another crack at South Africa and they grabbed it as they edged a pulsating, aggressive contest which at times boiled over.
Tries from Manu Tuilagi, who then went off injured, Freddie Steward and Raffi Quirke won the day for the hosts.
The Springboks finished the game with 13 men with captain Siya Kolisi and Francois Steyn sin-binned late on – and the two sets of players angrily confronted each other pushing and shoving.
But once tempers calmed, England could enjoy their win and Harlequins star Smith, who kicked 12 points, enthused: “This experience has made me even more hungry and determined to get back here in the New Year and play in the Six Nations. We've said this is the start of ‘New England' with so many young players being involved and more established ones also still here.
Marcus: The boys put arms round me
“It was mental having to wait so long to take that penalty. The boys put their arms around me and said back yourself.
“Once I hit the kick it was like slow motion and was so emotional for me. This group will never forget this day.”
Lock Courtney Lawes, who savoured success as captain, revealed: “Jonny Hill said to me ‘imagine taking this kick!' I was like…that is why he gets paid the big bucks! We won because we were ready to fight for each other.”
Full-back Steward was named Man of the Match for his outstanding display including the opening try while another young gun, Sale's' 20-year-old scrumhalf Quirke enjoyed his own try from the bench.
Steward said: “The last time I was watching England play South Africa I was in a student bar!
“The emotions come to the forefront at the end after all the battles you have been through and sometimes tempers boil over. But that was two sets of players who had gone hammer and tongs and neither wanted to win.”
Jones labelled Smith a “work in progress” and claimed the youngster will be even better come the Six Nations before refusing to declare whether he might keep the No10 jersey from Owen Farrell.
Jones insisted: “It was a one off game. We are third and they are No.1 in the world. We are happy to knock off the top team in the world. That was a proper Test match today and I'm sure the 82,000 fans here loved it. We have four more campaigns up to the World Cup. We have some exciting youngsters coming through and we have some very good experienced guys as well.
“Now have to make sure we are better in the next campaign, which is the Six Nations. A win over the world champions will give the players a lot of confidence.”
Springboks captain Kolisi conceded: “We made crucial mistakes at important stages and failed to keep a grip on the game once we had taken the lead and were dominating the set-piece. England deserved their win.”
