The Springboks always knew that the November Tests were set to throw up some surprises, although they wouldn’t have expected them to come in the form of two straight red cards in successive games, and yet the world champions have managed to keep winning – while also maintaining their No 1 spot in the rankings.
England also did the Springboks a favour this past weekend by beating New Zealand, which cost the All Blacks 1.03 points in the rankings. The Kiwis are still in second place, but there is now a 2.73 gap between them and the Springboks.
Although England
