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Wilkinson sees off South Africans
PERTH, Australia -- Jonny Wilkinson scored 20 points as World Cup co-favorites England overcame a ferocious performance from South Africa to win 25-6 in Perth. Fly-half Wilkinson was again flawless with his kicking to send England into pole position in Pool C, virtually condemning South Africa to a daunting quarterfinal against New Zealand. The story could have been much different had Wilkinson's Springbok counterpart Louis Koen not had a disastrous night, missing four penalties and a drop-goal attempt. Koen also saw a clearance kick charged down midway through the second-half, gifting a try to England center Will Greenwood, which stretched England's lead to 19-6 at a critical time. Two superbly taken late drop-goals from Wilkinson made sure of victory for England, who are now likely to face a straightforward route into the semi-finals. The first half ended with the sides level at 6-6, Wilkinson and Koen bagging two penalties apiece as both sets of forwards battled fiercely for supremacy. Wilkinson opened the scoring after four minutes, nervelessly banging over a penalty from near the 10-meter line after Springboks' center De Wet Barry was adjudged to have not released on the floor. The early penalty settled England, who signaled their attacking intent with two surging runs from winger Jason Robinson, one of which launched a move that nearly ended in a try on 11 minutes. A cut-out pass from Wilkinson found Ben Cohen who fed to Mike Tindall, only for the Bath center to be tackled into touch by Jorrie Muller just inches from the try-line. England's forwards looked to have got on top of the Springbok eight early on when they forced them offside at the first scrum. Yet South Africa's defense held firm and Koen leveled the scores after a promising charge from No.8 Juan Smith ended with England winger Cohen infringing on the floor. South Africa's forwards grew in stature as the half wore on. Lock Victor Matfield was immense at the line-out while the back-row of Corne Krige, Joe van Niekerk and Smith frequently rocked England backwards at the breakdown. But their good work was not converted into points, Koen having a shocking first half with the boot -- muffing a drop kick at goal, which was charged down, and squandering four penalty attempts. Instead Wilkinson restored England's lead with a sweetly struck effort after Krige had slipped his binding at a scrum near the half-hour mark. But England were clearly rattled by the physical South African challenge, with Greenwood blundering under his posts with a schoolboy error to give the Springboks a five-meter scrum. From a subsequent attack South Africa drew level, Lewsey tackling Muller without the ball as the Springboks threatened. Lewsey was lucky not to be sin-binned for the challenge and South Africa had to content themselves with a penalty from Koen. The momentum was clearly with South Africa as the half ended but it was England who regained the lead after the interval. Wilkinson put over his third and fourth penalties to give the English a six-point cushion but South Africa were a constant menace. The Springboks came desperately close to scoring a try after a marvellous counter-attack launched from inside their 22 ended with lock Bakkies Botha tackled into touch by the outstanding Robinson. It was as close as South Africa came to a try though. Greenwood's try put England out of sight and Wilkinson, growing in composure during the late stages of the game, rubbed in their supremacy. England captain Martin Johnson said: "The first half we struggled. There was too much pressure on Jonny, our forwards didn't get enough ball and there was enormous pressure on Jonny's kicking. "We've come through and benefitted from a proper Test match." Springbok captain Corne Krige said that England had shown once again they were a world class side. "We played like we wanted to play. We got good position but in the end they took their opportunities," he added. "We worked hard and want to thank our people back home for coming to support us. We feel like we've let them down."
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