Inspirational Vickery saves ‘back to basics’ England as the vultures circle

WORLD CUP hero Phil Vickery took England back to basics as they avoided the humiliation of a record eighth successive Test defeat, and then declared: “Sometimes you have to just dog it out.”

Vickery’s contribution matched his substantial 18-stone, 6ft 3in frame as the Wasps man-mountain helped England scale their mini Everest following a week from hell.

The world champions trailed 18-6 when he arrived to replace injured prop Andrew Sheridan, with vultures again beginning to circle above head coach Andy Robinson.

It was Vickery’s first England appearance for a year after recovering from major back surgery, but you would never have thought he had been away as England turned mission improbable into mission accomplished.

Vickery’s 73rd-minute try – only his second in 48 Tests – was converted by fellow substitute Andy Goode, and England were home, safe from being labelled the worst red rose side in international rugby’s 135-year history.

Their seventh win in a row against South Africa had straightforward rugby principles at its heart – hard graft, set-piece efficiency and territorial domination.

“I don’t score many tries for England, and as a substitute, I think all you can ever ask is to go and try to make an impact,” said Vickery.

“It has been a long 12 months for me, When you’ve had an operation and you are lying there, you dream of playing for England and scoring a try, so I suppose I have done okay.

“I watched the Argentina game like everyone else last weekend, and it was hugely disappointing, not just in however many games we had lost and all that stuff, but just the manner of it.

“As far as I am concerned, it wouldn’t have mattered who was in charge of the team last week. If you go out and make that many mistakes against any side, you are going to struggle.

“The most important thing for me was whatever the result we got (against South Africa), is we had 80,000 people leaving the stadium proud of their rugby team. That was the only thing that really bothered me.’’

Vickery’s score has kept Robinson in a job – at least for now – although there can be no escaping the fact England are still struggling as they approach the third anniversary of their World Cup triumph.

There were some inspirational moments but England repeatedly coughed and spluttered, resembling a team short on confidence and belief.

The real highlights came from an adventurous Springboks back division, encapsulated by fly-half Butch James all-round excellence and the magnificent broken field running of rookie wing Akona Ndungane.

Once James departed nursing a knee injury midway through the second period, South Africa lost their way, but it would be reckless to write them off for next Saturday’s second Test.

“It is a feeling of incredible relief,” said England captain Martin Corry. “What pleased me the most was the way everyone stuck at it, and we weren’t beaten when we went two scores behind. There was a tremendous attitude and commitment from everyone.

“It was a tough week. Nobody wanted to be part of a record-breaking run of defeats, and I certainly didn’t want to be captain of that.

“At two stages of the game (England trailed 18-6 and 21-13) we were looking down the barrel, and for the team to come back from that was the most pleasing thing of all. We’ve scraped a victory, but we are not kidding ourselves, and what we’ve got to do now is back up this win with another one next week.”

* Butch James, Jacques Cronjes and Pierre Spies will all miss the second test after sustaining injuries at Twickenham.

South Africa have called up loose forwards Gerrie Britz, Kabamba Floors and Wikus van Heerden to their squad and the trio are expected to start with preparations tomorrow.