Cape Town - England may be ranked second in the world, but the Springbok pack have the capacity to place Eddie Jones’ depleted squad under real pressure in their November 12 clash.
Jones announced a group of 33 players on Wednesday that includes six uncapped players. That is not far off the Bok Test squad of the same size, as coach Allister Coetzee chose four new faces in Jean-Luc du Preez, Roelof Smit, Francois Venter and Sergeal Petersen.
But the men that are missing from the England side that last played in June, when they whitewashed Australia 3-0 Down Under, suggests that Jones will have his hands full in trying to assemble a pack capable of getting the better of the Boks, despite South Africa’s four-out-of-nine win record in 2016.
England have lost their first-choice lock pair of Maro Itoje and George Kruis to injury, which has resulted in 29-year-old Dave Attwood being recalled alongside Courtney Lawes and Joe Launchbury.
They also have a loose-forward shortage as regular openside starting flank James Haskell, Jack Clifford, Sam Jones and Mike Williams are sidelined.
That has seen Jones revert back to a man who said that the coach told him his performances were “distinctly average”, Tom Wood, as a blindside option. Woods had been a stalwart of previous England coach Stuart Lancaster’s teams, earning 42 caps between 2011 and 2015.
But the 29-year-old said in March this year that Jones had told him last December he had been dropped from the national side because his work-rate wasn’t “world-class”, despite Wood being known for his tireless efforts, particularly on defence and as an excellent lineout jumper at the back.
The 1.93m, 113kg Northampton back-rower has been playing club rugby since the World Cup, and missed out on the Six Nations and the tour to Australia.
It’s only really in the front row that England are settled with loosehead prop Mako Vunipola, captain and hooker Dylan Hartley and powerful tighthead Dan Cole.
Bok coach Coetzee mentioned at last week’s coaching indaba that while problem areas were the defence and tactical kicking game, the one shining light in the South African make-up was the set-piece. The lineout success rate was excellent, while the scrums had also shown improvement.
With Eben Etzebeth and newly crowned SA Rugby Player of the Year Pieter-Steph du Toit in the air, along with two more top jumpers in Oupa Mohoje and Warren Whiteley at the back, the Boks can win dominance in the lineout. Big No 8 Billy Vunipola is not known for being a real jumping option.
The key to England’s game is getting front-foot ball to halfbacks Ben Youngs and George Ford, as well as inside centre Owen Farrell to dictate the game with their boots and by releasing their outside backs with ball-in-hand, although Jones won’t be able to call on his two star wings from the Australian series, Anthony Watson and Jack Nowell, due to injury.
In contrast, Coetzee has brought back the experienced JP Pietersen at wing, and Ruan Combrinck is also fit again after eight weeks out with a broken fibula. Bryan Habana has been one of the stand-out Boks this year, and they are sure to test the two likely England wings, Marland Yarde and Jonny May – the latter having only returned to the field in October after being out with knee ligament damage since last December.
Apart from the lineouts, the Boks should have a much more energetic presence at the breakdowns through Jaco Kriel to compete for possession as well, with Francois Louw out with a hamstring injury.
Yes, you’re only as good as your last game – the Boks lost 57-15 to the All Blacks on October 8, while England beat Australia 44-40 in Sydney in June. But, adding in the fact that the Boks haven’t lost in their last 12 outings against the English (11 wins and a draw), even this wounded bunch of Springboks have a fighting chance of winning at Twickenham on November 12…
England Squad
Backs: Mike Brown, Danny Care, Elliot Daly, Owen Farrell, George Ford, Alex Goode, Mike Haley, Jonathan Joseph, Alex Lozowski, Jonny May, Semesa Rokoduguni, Henry Slade, Ben Te’o, Marland Yarde, Ben Youngs.
Forwards: Dave Attwood, Dan Cole, Charlie Ewels, Ellis Genge, Jamie George, Teimana Harrison, Dylan Hartley, Nathan Hughes, Joe Launchbury, Courtney Lawes, Joe Marler, Ben Morgan, Chris Robshaw, Kyle Sinckler, Tommy Taylor, Billy Vunipola, Mako Vunipola, Tom Wood.
Springbok Squad
Backs: Ruan Combrinck, Damian de Allende, Faf de Klerk, Johan Goosen, Bryan Habana, Elton Jantjies, Jesse Kriel, Pat Lambie, Willie le Roux, Lionel Mapoe, Rudy Paige, Sergeal Petersen, JP Pietersen, Piet van Zyl, Francois Venter.
Forwards: Willem Alberts, Lood de Jager, Jannie du Plessis, Jean-Luc du Preez, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Eben Etzebeth, Steven Kitshoff, Vincent Koch, Jaco Kriel, Malcolm Marx, Bongi Mbonambi, Oupa Mohoje, Franco Mostert, Tendai Mtawarira, Trevor Nyakane, Roelof Smit, Adriaan Strauss (captain), Warren Whiteley.
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