England take brute route to success

Whether or not the Springboks had been softened up in Ireland and Wales, the iron pendulum appears to have swung at least part of the way north.

South Africa captain Andre Vos felt that this head-on collision spoke for rugby at its most violent, adding: 'Our last match against you in Bloemfontein alerted us as to what to expect here.'

In that regard he was not disappointed, even though England's goal-kicking prodigy Jonny Wilkinson looked visibly shocked at the end by the brutality of those 80 minutes.

The intensity with which England added South Africa to the scalps of Australia and Argentina was born of an acute realisation that they stood at a fateful crossroads.

One wrong turn in any of these matches and they could have been heading down the road to nowhere.

The victory, the victory and nothing but the victory. Without that, all the hard work applied thus far by Woodward, Martin Johnson et al towards the evolution of a team with authentic World Cup ambitions might so easily have fallen through the divisions which separated management from team during that pay wrangle.

After culling two of the Tri-Nations, England head for the Six Nations as even firmer favourites. Consequently, however, should they come a cropper there the cracks in unity and morale would reappear not only quickly but wider than before.

They will need to match the level of ferocity attained against South Africa, but that is not the easiest of beasts to control.

To the gratification of every Englishman in attendance it took by the throat the team which is currently the weakest of the southern powers. But now the fires of industrial strife have been damped down, it will not be as easy to ignite the rage against less exalted opposition.

And despite Viljoen's warning, Wales will have to go some if they are to provoke England as sorely as they were incensed by South Africa.

A succession of Englishmen, Richard Hill and Neil Back prominently scarred among them, were having head wounds sewn up by the time Phil Greening targeted Japie Mulder and Joost van der Westhuizen by way of evening up the score.

Yet, England's desire to set about their opponents also did much to repair their public image.

In less than a fortnight, these players have gone from heroes to zeroes and back to heroes with noone completing the transition more emphatically than the magnificently embattled Danny Grewcock.

Here was the performance to reward England's fans for tolerating the strike threat, with Wilkinson and Will Greenwood combining for the incisive try which offered promise of a cutting edge being sharpened behind that juggernaut of a pack.

This was not a day for the squeamish but for those with a meaty constitution it was thrilling to behold.

More healing work may be required of Dr Woodward by a team in which so many players were left with blood seeping through head bandages.

But according to this most recent diagnosis, The English Patient is recovering nicely.