Rugby Union: England take a battering: Tour goes from bad to worse as injury to Pears compounds a lame defeat at the hands of Natal

Natal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21

England. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

SELDOM in recent memory has there been a more dismal day for English rugby. It is one thing for the midweek side to have lost the opening game of the South African tour last Wednesday, but for the full might of England to have crashed out in such abject surrender in Durban yesterday is something entirely different.

For most of this untidy contest, lacking in both shape and substance, England were comprehensively out-played in almost every phase. It was Natal's first ever victory against a representative touring side from Britain but, on the evidence of what we saw at King's Park Stadium, it certainly will not be the last defeat inflicted on this particular touring side.

England had neither the passion nor the forward control to subdue opponents who in the space of a week had transformed their game and had thrown off the lethargy so apparent against Queensland last Saturday. Throughout they were a sharper and more cohesive unit, relentlessly plundering the innumerable mistakes made by prodigal England.

Andre Joubert, the Natal full-back who could find neither range nor direction against Queensland, rediscovered both yesterday and from a variety of distances and angles succeeded with four penalties.

And by the time that Henry Honiball kicked the last of his three penalties two minutes from the end, England were praying for the release of the final whistle. None more so than Rob Andrew who had received five stitches to a cut in his head and, from as many different positions and angles, missed with seven kicks out of nine, a number of them in front of the posts and one from no further than 30 yards. But his kicking was not the reason for England's defeat nor was it responsible for the wretched execution of the basics.

From what they had seen of the refereeing of the line-out since they have been here, the tourists correctly deduced that giving Natal the throw-in would be automatically to surrender possession. But what they had not calculated on was that, for every time John Allan, the Natal hooker, threw along the most crooked of lines to his jumpers Mark Andrews and Steve Atherton, Brian Moore took exactly the same line. He had the most miserable of days with his throwing, and more often found the opposition jumpers than he did his own.

The scrummage was only slightly more successful for England. That it delivered some comfort was due mainly to the early injury to Guy Kebble, Natal's formidable prop. But with the adjustment to the ruck and maul law which is in operation during this tour, there were almost as many scrums as there were line-outs and England might have hoped for more profitable gain.

It was only in the rolling maul that England looked comfortable and it was from this phase that they launched their most promising attacks. At no stage, however, could they pose the threat of Natal's pace and accuracy nor were their back moves, such as they were, graced with the same invention.

We did see an organised England defence when Natal threatened to take absolute control, both Will Carling and Phil de Glanville making crucial tackles to save tries, if not to stem the almost incessant flow of penalties. But what the two centres put in to defence they could never match in attack. There is no thrust, no potency and, sad to relate, no impression of desire, among England's threequarters at the moment.

After Honiball kicked Natal's fifth penalty, the tourists went to pieces. Andrew missed his sixth kick at goal, David Pears, who has played so little in recent weeks, went off after suffering a sprung cartilage in his chest and Carling late-tackled Joubert, which allowed Honiball to put the game out of England's reach with another penalty. It is probable that Pears' tour is over.

No complaints, no excuses. In temperatures cooler than anything England have experienced since they arrived and on a placid pitch, they should have been very much at home.

By the end England were a rabble, their opponents slick and suave, the thoroughbreds. Where England go from here is as much a mystery as the quality of their performance yesterday.

Natal: Penalties Joubert 4, Honiball 3. England: Penalties Andrew 2.

NATAL: A Joubert; C Van der Westhuizen (A Marinos, 52), D Muir, P Muller, J Enslin; H Honiball, K Putt; G Kebble (D Morkel, 8), J Allan, A Garvey, S Atherton, M Andrews, W Bartmann (capt), A Blakeway, G Teichmann.

ENGLAND: D Pears (Harlequins); R Underwood (Leicester), P de Glanville (Bath), W Carling (Harlequins, capt), T Underwood (Leicester); R Andrew (Wasps), D Morris (Orrell); J Leonard (Harlequins), B Moore (Harlequins), V Ubogu (Bath), M Johnson (Leicester), N Redman (Bath), T Rodber (Northampton), B Clarke (Bath), D Richards (Leicester). Replacements: S Ojomoh (Bath) for Richards, 40; S Barnes (Bath) for Pears, 54.

Referee: M Franken (Griqualand West).

(Photograph omitted)