South Africa v England: second Test – live!

40 min: Billy Vunipola off, Nathan Hughes on, for England. This is Hughes’s 16th cap, and that change goes some way to explaining that meek challenge by Vunipola a moment ago. Into the final throws of this first half, then.

40 min: Mike Brown, the Harlequin, does brilliantly to dig England out of a hole, after Mbonambi runs over Vunipola, charging through the middle. Brown earns a penalty for England, and a little respite.

37 min: England cede momentum, after failing to release the ball and South Africa win another penalty, from 57m. England could do with being a little more savvy.

35 min: Another smart kick by Farrell earns a lineout in spitting distance of the try-line. The approach play is neat, with Shields storming into the South Africa defence, before Mako Vunipola lets it slip.

33 min: Somehow, the French referee, Romain Poite has resisted dishing out any yellow cards, with Vunipola the most fortunate after slapping du Toit in the face, just as England pressed.

32 min: Farrell insists England “are trying to play rugby” before whacking the ball downfield with a sweet kick. They need to seize back some kind of control.

31 min: England are getting bogged down with the non-rugby; the latest espisode involving Mako Vunipola shove his hand in Pieter-Steph du Toit’s face.

30 min: Some more antics, handbags if you like, this time with Vermeulen involved. It appears Itoje gave De Klerk a little kick just as the South African went to clear the ball. That was silly, just as England surrendered that sloppy penalty from the lineout moment ago.

27 min: South Africa are edging possession, 55% in their favour. And now they’re in the groove, can they gain parity before the interval? De Klerk’s just made a beautiful catch and then kick upfield; he’s a class act.

25 min: Pollard converts, straight down the middle, for 7-12 in this second Test.

20 min: England are penalised for collapsing the South Africa maul, as the hosts attempt to up the ante. England are penned in but clinging on, for now at least.

19 min: It kicks off between Owen Farrell and Faf de Klerk, with the South African rubbing the England skipper up the wrong way. It’s all a bit tasty and it takes a while to quell. Lots for the referee to soak up there. Kolisi and Farrell are warned that any more scuffles will result in yellow cards being dished out. And now a-ha belts out over the public address system. Lovely.

18 min: A flurry of South Africa lineouts as the heavy-breathing hosts look to reapply the pressure. Despite their best efforts, they’ve made a pretty dismal start.

16 min: Rassie Erasmus looks a little startled – again, as he was at Ellis Park last week.

14 min: It’s not to be 14 points in 14 minutes, with Farrell’s right boot lacking the gumption to make it between the posts. Nevertheless, a great start for Eddie Jones’s England in Bloemfontein.

8 min: Farrell kicks into the safety of touch. And they look to build from the lineout, via Brown chasing a high kick before South Africa turnover.

7 min: England win a penalty in the scrum, cue a couple of fist pumps from Joe Launchbury and the Vunipolas.

6 min: And now Farrell’s pass out to Daly is forward, very sloppy. South Africa are a few feet from the try-line, in a very promising central position. Here comes the scrum, de Klerk with the put in ...

4 min: Owen Farrell scythes down De Allende, after the South Africa speedster picks off Ben Youngs’ sloppy pass. Farrell, the England captain, duly dives in to rescue his team, and prevents the inevitable.

3 min: Ford’s canny crossfield kick picks out a marauding Jonny May another offside call soon puts pay to that.

2 min: Pollard thumps the ball into touch and England earn a lineout just outside the South Africa 22.

1 min: The first decision by the French referee is to penalise Faf de Klerk for moving offside. A simple start, with de Klerk a bit keen and surrendering a penalty. That dovetails nicely with England’s plans for a fast start.

The teams flood on to the pitch and, after a moment’s silence for the former Springbok Syd Nomis who passed away earlier on Saturday at the age of 76, we’re almost there ...

There are some big boys in that South Africa lineup, none more so than the prop Frans Malherbe, who weighs in at 19st5lbs. In terms of England, a reminder that Danny Cipriani, for the first time since 2015, is back in the fold and among the replacements.

Warm-ups are done and dusted in a slightly chilly Bloemfontein, the capital of Free State and a city 1400 metres above sea-level. We will be getting down to business shortly, after a few pre-match formalities; anthems etc.

My grandparents were very English and there was a lot of English heritage in the way we were brought up – all the teaspoons on the wall, chip butties on Sunday afternoon.

Before we get started in South Africa, plenty to digest elsewhere, namely Ireland’s win over Australia – their first down under since 1979 to level the series – as well as France’s defeat to the All Blacks.

Ireland’s captain, Peter O’Mahony, whose performance was lauded by head coach Joe Schmidt, saluted his team-mates:

Last week they taught us a good few lessons, it has taken one of our best performances of the year to beat them. They are incredibly proud playing here at home. It was appropriate we put in one of our best performances of the year.

It would have been disappointing for next week to be a dead rubber. We are looking forward to assessing the game and looking at what we did well and what we can improve for next week.”

Even though he says otherwise, Eddie Jones is presumably nursing a headache, with four straight Test defeats tough to take: