PARIS—South Africa humiliated England 36-0 in a Pool A mismatch at the Stade de France on Friday to set themselves up for a real challenge for the trophy they last won in 1995, and in the process, left the holders in total disarray.
The Springboks were superior in every department and were inspired by a superlative display by scrumhalf Fourie Du Preez, who set up all three tries, two for winger JP Pietersen.
It was England's first World Cup defeat since losing a 1999 quarter-final to the Springboks on the same Stade de France pitch–which until now had been their worst World Cup defeat.
It was also the first time they failed to score a point since losing 18-0 to South Africa on the "Tour of Hell" nine years ago.
On Friday's form they face a real challenge even to get past Samoa on Sept. 22 to avoid becoming the first holders not to make the knockout stages–where Australia and New Zealand probably await.
"We're very disappointed about the game and the performance," England's stand-in captain Martin Corry told ITV television. "We've got to get over this game first and we've got an incredibly tough match against Samoa coming up."
By contrast South Africa, who matched their record fourth successive win over England, can now look forward to a probable quarter-final against Wales and a likely semi against France, Argentina or Ireland.
Power and intent
None of them will fancy their chances after this showing as the Springboks oozed class, power and intent.
All the predictions had been of a tight opening battle but South Africa had not read the script and blasted into a 10-0 lead after 11 minutes.
Du Preez escaped down the blindside and missed tackles by England allowed Juan Smith to scamper over for a try six minutes in.
Montgomery converted and Francois Steyn added a penalty as suddenly all England's plans for a possession-based game were in tatters.
Locks Victor Matfield and Bakkies Botha quickly established dominance in the lineout and England narrowly escaped when Jaque Fourie dropped the ball in the tackle as he crossed the line after a great kick by quick-thinking Du Preez.
England were without injured flyhalves Jonny Wilkinson and Olly Barkley and the kicking of Mike Catt and Andy Farrell was unsurprisingly shaky.
A soft Montgomery penalty stretched the lead before another electric burst from Du Preez set up Pietersen for a walk-in try and a 20-0 halftime lead.
"I had a real go at the guys (at halftime), which I think was justified," England coach Brian Ashton told ITV.
His harsh words were not enough and South Africa continued with their up-and-under approach. Despite some manful fielding by Jason Robinson, the tactic kept England deep in their own half.
Montgomery popped over two more penalties to stretch it to 26-0 before more trouble befell the champions.
After finally engineering some space, Robinson pinned back his ears and went for the line, only to stop with a pulled hamstring that could mark the end of his World Cup and career.
Du Preez engineered Pietersen's second try after 64 minutes, Montgomery converting and the fullback had the final word with a penalty to complete England's misery.
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