Johannesburg - Springbok coach Allister Coetzee is one person who could well know what makes England coach Eddie Jones tick.
The two spent several months together in 2007, with Jones and Coetzee working side-by-side as assistants on Jake White's World Cup-winning Springbok team.
Next month, on November 12 to be exact, they will go head-to-head for the first time in the Test arena. It is a significant game for both as Coetzee tries to get his stumbling Springbok team back on track and Jones looking to extend his nine-match winning streak as England's mentor into double figures.
Jones did a massive job on the Springboks as Japan coach at the World Cup last year and Coetzee is wary that his Boks could run into another ambush at Twickenham. Coetzee admitted that his team will be underdogs, but feels they can upset the apple cart. “I have studied all the England Tests in Australia [this past] June and they played really well,” said the Springbok coach, as he summarised a 3-0 series triumph for the visitors.
“They focused on a few areas and got better as the tour progressed,” he told a media conference in Johannesburg - as the national squad gathered for a four-match tour of Europe during November. “Eddie has done a great job,” Coetzee said of Australia-born England coach Eddie Jones, who took charge when Stuart Lancaster quit after the 2015 World Cup hosts made a first-round exit.
“There is a lot of belief in the team and they have a monstrous and very physical pack. They are also very solid in defence. “Several (England) backs can kick the ball a mile to put the opposition under territorial pressure and ask them to run from deep.
“They also have in Owen Farrell a 95 percent successful goal-kicker. “That is what we will be up against,” admitted Coetzee when the Springboks defend a 12-Test unbeaten record against England.
But Coetzee allayed fears among South African supporters and media that a team which has won only four of nine Tests this year face a thrashing at Twickenham.
“The prospects seem gloomy, but we will plan and prepare well. We will always give ourselves a chance, even when facing the second best team in the world.”
African News Agency