England vs South Africa Rugby Union Head-to-Head & Stats

Simon Lewis

Editor

Last updated: 19 Nov 2024

Simon Lewis 19 Nov 2024

Share this article

First match played in 1906; South Africa leads head-to-head. England had to wait for their six match against the Springboks to claim their first win, and their best streak was from 2000-2006, winning seven Tests on the trot..
The Springboks have dominated this contest by winning 28 of their 46 matches against England.
South Africa have beaten England twice in the World Cup final, in addition to once in the semi-final.

Handre Pollard has starred with the boot against England. (credit: Aurelien Meunier/Getty Images)

This rugby union fixture dates back to the first match played between the two in 1906 when they played out a 3-3 draw at Crystal Palace in London. Since then, they have met on 46 occasions with South Africa the dominant force by some distance. After drawing their first meeting, South Africa won the next four matches and have had four-match or greater winning streaks on three occasions.

England have only won back-to-back wins three times against South Africa, in addition to a seven-match winning spree at the start of the new Millennium. South Africa’s greatest victories were in 2007, when they won the two Test home series 2-0, beating England 58-10 and 55-22 in back-to-back Tests. Those wins were part of the Boks’ nine-match winning streak over England.

England vs South Africa Head-to-Head Record
Latest Results
Rugby World Cup Record

England vs South Africa Head-to-Head Record

The Roses against the Springboks has always been a great glamour fixture, although it has mostly been characterised by incredibly tough forward play by two monster packs. England generally make South Africa work hard for their wins, although South Africa comfortaly lead the overall points tally.

Both England and South Africa are considered among the consistently top nations in Rugby Union. South Africa have dominated England over the past two decades, with England winning just four Tests out of 21 played from 2006 to 2023, with the sides sharing one draw.

Info	Played	Won by England	Won by South Africa	Drawn
Overall	47	16	29	2
In England	25	11	13	1
In South Africa	16	4	11	1
Neutral venue	6	1	5	0

Latest Results

Date	Result	Score	Stadium	Country
9 June 2012	South Africa	22–17	Kings Park Stadium	South Africa
16 June 2012	South Africa	36–27	Ellis Park Stadium	South Africa
23 June 2012	Draw	14–14	Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium	South Africa
24 November 2012	South Africa	15–16	Twickenham Stadium	England
15 November 2014	South Africa	28–31	Twickenham Stadium	England
12 November 2016	England	37–21	Twickenham Stadium	England
9 June 2018	South Africa	42–39	Ellis Park Stadium	South Africa
16 June 2018	South Africa	23–12	Free State Stadium	South Africa
23 June 2018	England	10–25	Newlands Stadium	South Africa
3 November 2018	England	12–11	Twickenham Stadium	England
2 November 2019	South Africa	12–32	International Stadium	Japan
20 November 2021	England	27–26	Twickenham Stadium	England
26 November 2022	South Africa	13–27	Twickenham Stadium	England
21 October 2023	South Africa	15–16	Stade de France	France
16 November 2024	South Africa	20-29	Twickenham Stadium	England

Rugby World Cup Record

South Africa and England have met on six occasions at the Rugby World Cup. The first meeting at the World Cup took place in 1999, when Jannie de Beer kicked five penalties, five drop goals and two conversions as England were hammered 44-21 in the quarter-final.

England gained revenge in the 2003 World Cup, beating South Africa 25-6 in their group clash, but in the next tournament South Africa beat England 36-0 in their group clash en route to a meeting in the final at Stade de France, where South Africa pipped England 15-6 to lift their second World Cup.

The next time the teams met at the World Cup was again in the final, in 2019 in Japan. The Springboks ran out 32-12 winners in a dominant performance. They met again in 2023 in the semi-final, South Africa once again breaking the hearts of all English rugby supporters by snatching a last-gasp one-point win through a Handre Pollard penalty to take the score to 15-16.