South Africa halves Damian Willemse and Faf de Klerk have put England to the sword with a relentless drumbeat of drop goals, penalties and try assists in a 27-13 victory, that ended the hosts' patchy November series on a downer.
Tries for Kurt-Lee Arendse and Eben Etzebeth helped the visitors repeat their 2019 World Cup final victory over England, as the Springboks feasted on ill discipline from the home side, although the visitors finished a man short.
Thomas du Toit was red-carded as the game entered the final quarter for shoulder-charging England's Luke Cowan-Dickie, but despite a try for Henry Slade, there was to be no miracle comeback, like they managed last week against the All Blacks.
After the feel-good factor of that late draw, Sunday's performance could have been designed to torment the Twickenham crowd with everything they have come to despise about latter-day Eddie Jones era England - misfiring attack, ill discipline, mistakes. Meanwhile, South Africa were excellent.
De Klerk was driven off the field on the motorised stretcher with a late knock, after tormenting England all day with his usual relentless harrying, as the visitors scored a hatful of penalties and conversions in a one-sided game.
"It was a hard game, but hats off to our forwards," said Player of the Match Franco Mostert, referencing his team's defeats this month to Ireland and France.
"We had some big conversations with each other this week and it paid off."
Willemse set up the pick of the tries, slicing back into space through England's weak chase, setting Kurt-Lee Arendse free down the right, after Marcus Smith kicked too deep. The winger sidestepped round the hapless Smith to score in a passage of play England's young stand off will want to forget in a hurry.
England conceded penalty after penalty, unable to slow South Africa's bruising close-range phase play legally and receiving repeated warnings from referee Angus Gardner.
They were lucky to get in at the break without a yellow card, after barely firing a shot in attack throughout a gritty first half.
England coach Jones responded by replacing his entire front row and young winger Tommy Freeman, who had been unable to get into the game, but Willemse picked up where he left off after the break, stroking over another long-range drop goal to put England in the hole at 17-3 behind.
South Africa extended their lead through a close-range surge from the hulking Etzebeth, after repeated warnings for the constantly infringing England saw Tom Curry sin-binned.
A pointless error from second row Jonny Hill summed up the discipline problems of the England side, getting a penalty for his team reversed, when he pulled the prone De Klerk around after the whistle had gone.
After looking sharp when he came on in last week's comeback against New Zealand, Slade furthered his case for a starting spot, with a sharply taken try late in the game.
But there was to be no repeat of last week's heroics, which now look more like a fortunate flurry than a glimpse of the team's true qualities, and England will need some serious retooling before next year's Six Nations and World Cup.
South Africa are simply better than England, with more power, a more settled gameplan and sharper handling.
They can be happy with an autumn series in which they missed some of their best players, despite narrow defeats by France and Ireland.
Conventional wisdom holds that this Springbok side can be beaten, if their bruising pack are matched, but their opening try particularly showcased their squad depth and, increasingly, their back line play.
In Cheslin Kolbe - scourge of England in the 2019 World Cup final, but unavailable on Saturday - they have one of the world's best wingers. Similarly scrum-hatted deputy Kurt-Lee Arendse showed with his elusive score that he is almost as dangerous.
South Africa 27 (Arendse, Etzebeth tries; de Klerk conversion & 3 penalties, Willemse 2 dropped goals) England 13 (Slade try; Farrell conversion & 2 penalties)
Reuters
