of their heartbreaking loss to Australia in their final away match; they provided another very strong showing with yet another disciplined and accurate display. The standout feature of this match was the manner in which Solly Tyibilika outplayed his more fancied opposite George Smith – regarded by many as the greatest fetcher of his era. With back-to-back wins over their Tri-Nations rivals Jake White decided to rest the remainder of his front line players for the up-coming End of Year Tour. They started their campaign against Ireland in celebration of 100 years of Bok rugby. The Irish however had other ideas and put away three tries that exposed the poor defence of Pierre Spies in particular and Bryan Habana out of position at 13. Spies was twice caught charging out of the line and the Irish swiftly punished that opening each time. The Springboks, fielding a largely experimental side, fought hard as Habana and debutant François Steyn dotted down in the second half. That comeback was roundly ended by Horgan after O'Driscoll expertly put him away to seal the game. Next up was a two test encounter against England at fortress Twickenham. The Springboks had not beaten England since the Spring Tour of 2000 where the Boks won 18–13. England exacted revenge a week later and had built a period of dominance spanning six years. Even more disconcerting was that the Boks had not won at Twickenham since 1997; this leaving the Boks with a nine-year hoodoo to break. The Boks dominated England for much of the first test and seemed certain of victory until a late try by Phil Vickery gave England the result. A key turning point in the game was the injury to Butch James. His replacement, André Pretorius failed to deliver the steadiness Butch provided and missed an important penalty. However, the Boks gained confidence from this display and relished their second chance to redeem themselves. Unlike the first test, England got off to a strong start with stinging attacks that left the Boks defending for most of the first 30 minutes. In fact, it wasn't until the 26th minute that the Boks launched their first serious attack started by nuggety scrumhalf Ricky Januarie. England finally scored on the half-hour mark, but a missed conversion signalled the end of their dominance. The Boks got to work dominating the English with bruising defence, probing tactical kicks and