There was plenty of action in the second round of Autumn internationals over the weekend (November 15th), with England and Wales given a thorough examination of their abilities by South Africa and Fiji.

A mixed day of fortunes for both sides saw Wales survive a late scare from a spirited 14-man Fijian side, running out 17-13 winners at the Millennium Stadium.

There was no such luck for England however, with Stuart Lancaster's side crashing to their fifth straight defeat, this time courtesy of South Africa, who triumphed 31-28 at Twickenham.

England 28-31 South Africa

After a disappointing performance in the defeat to New Zealand last weekend, England were desperate to get back to winning ways in order to get their preparations for the upcoming Six Nations and Rugby World Cup back on track.

The tourists rushed into a ten-point lead within 15 minutes when Jan Serfontein intercepted a poor Danny Care pass to rush away to a try, adding to Patrick Lambie's early penalty.

England struggled to assert themselves, but stayed in touch with the visitors thanks to the boot of Owen Farrell, who responded with two penalties either side of another three-point score from Lambie to give South Africa a 13-6 lead at the break.

The hosts were slow coming out of the blocks in the first half and they were duly punished when Lambie's deft chip found Willie La Roux, who raced away before offloading to Cobus Reinach, who was on hand to go over.

A simple Lambie conversion gave the visitors an ominous 14-point lead, but England were given hope when Victor Matfield was sin-binned, with two unstoppable mauls allowing first David Wilson and then Ben Morgan to get over the try line and bring the Red Rose to within two points.

However, the Springboks soon regained control with a driving maul of their own, which allowed Schalk Burger to cap a stunning performance with a well-earned try.

England capitulated, with hooker Dylan Hartley sin-binned for a stamp on Duane Vermeulen just after the hour, before Lambie added another penalty to edge the visitors closer to victory, only for the kicking of Farrell to once again keep in England in touch.

However, any hope of an unlikely comeback was quashed three minutes from full time, when the imperious Lambie found space to seal a clinical drop goal that rendered Brad Barrit's late try for the hosts irrelevant, sealing a 12th straight win for the Springboks over Saturday's opponents.

Wales 17-13 Fiji

Wales had also suffered a disappointing defeat at the hands of Australia last week, but felt confident about making amends against another of their World Cup group opponents.

The home faithful were celebrating within ten minutes as tries from Scott Williams and Alex Cuthbert put Wales into a 10-0 lead, before Nemani Nadolo responded with two penalties.

Campese Ma'afu was then sin-binned three minutes before half time as Fiji began to lose their discipline, leading to referee Pascal Gauzere awarding the home side a penalty try, which Rhys Priestland duly converted.  

Ma'afu failed to learn his lesson and saw red ten minutes after the break for a second yellow, but Wales continued to struggle in finding a breakthrough.

And they were made to pay for their profligacy as Nadolo intercepted Priestland's poor pass to race away and score, before dusting himself off to kick over the conversion and set up a nervy finish.

But the hosts held on and claimed their first win of the Autumn, although it was not a performance that will strike fear into the All Blacks, who are next to visit the Millennium Stadium on November 22nd.