[2] England were on the back foot early on when they lost prop Stack Stevens to injury and had to contest seven-man scrums for twenty minutes.
However, the visiting side's makeshift front row did not lose one strike against the head and England gradually took control of the game when Stevens returned.
With the forwards keeping the Springboks at bay, Doble scored four penalties and converted Alan Morley's second half try from the touchline to help England to a most unlikely victory.
England were outscored by five tries to nil, but Doble signed off his international account with two penalties to augment a drop goal by Dick Cowman.
[citation needed] Moseley v International Rugby Writers XV Sunday 27 November 1977[6] Moseley 19 points International Rugby Writers XV 43 points[3] Moseley 15 C A Meanwell; 14 A Thomas, 13 M K Swain, 12 B J Corless, 11 P Beddoes; 10 M J Cooper, 9 C J Gifford; 1 T F Corless, 2 G N J Cox, 3 W H Greaves, 4 R Field, 5 B Ayre, 6 J C White, 8 N C Jeavons, 7 D G Warren Scorers Tries: P Beddoes, B J Corless, C A Meanwell Conversions: M Cooper (2) Penalties: C A Meanwell International Rugby Writers XV 15 J P R Williams (Bridgend/Wales); 14 P J Squires (Harrogate/England), 13 S P Fenwick (Bridgend/Wales), 12 T G R Davies (Cardiff/Wales), 11 A R Irvine (Heriot's FP/Scotland); 10 P Bennett (Llanelli/Wales), 9 G O Edwards (Cardiff/Wales); 1 F E Cotton (Sale/England), 2 P J Wheeler (Leicester/England), 3 G Price (Pontypool/Wales), 4 W B Beaumont (Fylde/England), 5 A J Martin (Aberavon/Wales), 6 T J Cobner (Pontypool/Wales), 8 D L Quinnell (Llanelli/Wales), 7 A Neary (Broughton Park/England) Replacements J Webster (Moseley/England), A Ripley (Rosslyn Park/England), A G Faulkner (Pontypool/Wales), R W Windsor (Pontypool/Wales), A Old (Sheffield/England) Scorers Tries: T G R Davies, T J Cobner, A R Irvine, A Neary, P J Squires (2), P Bennett (2) Conversions: P Bennett (4) Penalties: P Bennett (1) Touch Judges: G Bannister, D Jones Referee: N R Samson.