South Africa beat England 45-21 at Ellis Park on Saturday to open their Nations Championship campaign with a bonus-point victory despite pre-match disruptions.
The Springboks scored seven tries to three in a match that began with a dominant 17-0 lead inside 12 minutes. Tries from Cheslin Kolbe, Kurt-Lee Arendse and Thomas du Toit helped establish the early advantage before England responded with scores from Ellis Genge and George Martin to trail 17-14 at halftime.
Pieter-Steph du Toit captained the side after late withdrawals of Siya Kolisi and Eben Etzebeth. Grant Williams, Jesse Kriel, Malcolm Marx and Ben-Jason Dixon added further tries for South Africa while Cheslin Kolbe converted five times. England scored a third try through Alex Coles but could not close the gap.
The Springboks next host Scotland at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria next Saturday.