England and Wales snatch thrilling wins as Scotland captain makes history
England held their nerve in a thrilling encounter with rugby world champions South Africa to win by a single point on a good day of rugby for the home nations.
Marcus Smith kicked the decisive points for England with a minute left to prevent the Springboks from completing a comeback victory on an day of high drama at Twickenham.
The result means England avenged their 2019 World Cup final defeat to South Africa.
Wales followed with their own dramatic victory - a third successive win over Australia - thanks to a last-minute penalty kick to seal a 29-28 win at the Principality Stadium.
Scotland captain Stuart Hogg , meanwhile, became his country’s record try-scorer during their 29-20 Autumn Nations Series win against Japan at Murrayfield. Thriller at Twickenham
Eddie Jones’ men overcame the early loss of Manu Tuilagi, who was injured while in the act of scoring the opening try, to build a 17-6 lead with the outstanding Freddie Steward also crossing.
South Africa showed resilience in the face of the storm, doggedly defending their line and relying on Handre Pollard’s boot knowing they had won their last three games despite trailing at half-time.
And by the 64th minute, Pollard had kicked the Springboks ahead.
But England’s midfield conjured a moment of magic when Slade put Joe Marchant through a gap and Quirke was on hand to take the scoring pass.
Will Stuart was sin-binned for going in at the side and South Africa constructed a slick try finished by Makazole Mapimpi.
Steyn was on target to put the tourists back in front but with Kolisi off, England rallied heroically with Smith landing the killer blow.
Last-gasp joy for Wales
Substitute Rhys Priestland’s penalty with the final kick of a frantic game thwarted Australia and sent a 68,000 Principality Stadium crowd wild.
Australia number eight Rob Valetini was sent off after just 15 minutes for a dangerous tackle on Wales lock Adam Beard.
Beard played no further part in the game as a result, but Wales were pushed to the wire and outscored 3-2 on tries by a resilient Wallabies outfit.
Australia, desperate for a win following losses to Scotland and England, made Wales fight every inch of the way despite the numerical disadvantage, as wings Andrew Kellaway and Filipo Daugunu touched down, with scrum-half Nic White also scoring.The Wallabies struck on the hour-mark when White finished off a sweeping move, and James O’Connor’s conversion cut the deficit to just three points.
Dan Biggar, though, restored a degree of order by booting a 64th-minute penalty, and Wales led 26-20 before late drama unfolded, Australia briefly led, then Priestland grabbed the glory.
Scotland win in landmark fixture for captain
Hogg leapt into the air with his fist raised in front of the south stand at Murrayfield as he raced in for try number 25 in trademark style, starting and finishing the move in the 26th minute on his 88th appearance for Scotland.
Hogg had drawn level with former Scotland players Ian Smith and Tony Stanger as joint-top try-scorer with two touchdowns in last week’s 30-15 defeat by South Africa, but now holds the record outright.
Smith’s 24 tries came in only 32 Scotland appearances between 1924-33, while fellow winger Stanger scored his tries across 52 Test matches from 1989-99.
Hogg’s record-breaking try typified his ability to create something out of nothing from deep with electrifying pace.
He followed up his offload to Chris Harris after his initial break to glide on to the end of a scintillating passage of play from the Scots.
Former Scotland skipper Rory Lawson, working as a pundit for Amazon Prime for the game, said: “Made and finished by Stuart Hogg. The timing and tempo of that was just phenomenal, Scotland in full flow there.”
Lawson added: “Hogg is an icon of Scottish Rugby. It’s so good to see him play with a smile on his face and don’t get me wrong, he’s still got so much more to give in a Scottish jersey.”