By Jacques van der Westhuyzen
South Africa(30) 58
Tries: Willemse, Habana (2), De Villiers, Burger, Steyn, Van der Linde; Conversions: Montgomery (7); Penalties: Montgomery (3)
England(3) 10
Try: Simpson-Daniel; Conversion: Wilkinson; Penalty: Wilkinson
Springbok coach Jake White must be smoking something if he believes England will be stronger opponents at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Saturday.
The truth is they won't. This is a poor England side, as was seen in Bloemfontein on Saturday, and they'll be longing for home following the 58-10 defeat.
Besides the tummy bug saga, the English have suffered a few crippling injury blows which will further disrupt their training. Sorry, Brian Ashton, you're in for another hiding on the highveld, whether White wants to acknowledge the fact or not. Exactly what England hooker Mark Regan didn't want happening is happening - this is turning into the tour from hell for the tourists.
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The Boks will be an extremely confident bunch this week, having got the tricky first outing of the season out of the way. It wasn't the prettiest or best rugby they produced in Bloemfontein, but they had a job to do and they did it pretty darn well, even if there were a lot of errors. They took the chances that came their way and buried a side that was fighting well above its weight.
And didn't they score some scintillating tries? - seven of them to go with the 23 points from Percy Montgomery's boot.
And to further boost White and his players, no one picked up an injury, which will allow the selectors to pick the same match 22 this weekend, or maybe even bring in a few others to bolster the ranks. The continuity will be there, and so will the momentum.
AJ Venter will be back in camp after getting married over the weekend, while Os du Randt may get a look-in after shaking off a leg injury. White will still not be able to call on Andre Pretorius, Fourie du Preez or Jaque Fourie, all likely to be out for some time.
The English may be boosted by the return of centre Andy Farrell, No9 Pete Richards and wing David Strettle, who all missed the first Test because of the stomach virus. But injuries to Nick Wood, Iain Balshaw, Andy Hazell and Jonny Wilkinson could see Ashton fielding another makeshift team.
White said after the victory he would not be making too many changes to the team for this weekend's match, but he'll think long and hard about continuing with Danie Rossouw at No8. The Bulls man is a big chunk of meat, who adds plenty in the rucks and mauls, but he's nowhere near the class of a Pierre Spies. Rossouw too often knocked the ball on in contact in the first Test. Ashwin Willemse is sure to get another run after his return to the fold, while Ruan Pienaar and Frans Steyn - who cover every position in the backline - will again be the only backs on the bench.
White and his co-selectors, Peter Jooste and Ian MacIntosh, were due to meet Sunday night to discuss strategy, while the extended Bok squad will get together in Johannesburg today to start their preparations for Saturday.
- This article was originally published on page 6 of The Star on May 28, 2007
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