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Springbok eightman Pierre Spies. Photo: Masi Losi

London - A love of beating England is ingrained in the rugby Springboks’ psyche, recalled No. 8 Pierre Spies admitted with a smile on Tuesday.

“I guess you could say that. England are a team we like to beat but I would say we have moved on from the days that we motivated ourselves because of the history of our country (and the Anglo-Boer War),” he said. “It is more about two proud and very competitive nations with a lot of recent history having a latest go at each other.”

He is referring to the Rugby World Cup final of 2007 and the great Springbok victory at Twickenham two years ago when England conceded a record loss at their hallowed headquarters (42-6).

Five members of the Springbok pack that played that day are present in the current starting line-up but only two backs in Ruan Pienaar (who played flyhalf) and Jean de Villiers. Frans Steyn was on the bench but is starting on Saturday while Adrian Jacobs was at 13 and is among the substitutes this time.

“It was a wonderful evening,” Spies recalls. “We certainly ended that tour well after having also played badly against Scotland the week before (although the Boks scraped home 14-10 in that one). But the England set-up has come a long way under Martin Johnson since then. They won’t have forgotten that game either and will come out firing. So will we, so is it shaping up to be humdinger.”

Spies was in the stands at Murrayfield and felt the same pain as any South African observer. “As a spectator, there was nothing enjoyable about that game,” he said. “Rugby is about how you pitch up on the day and I am not sure if we were completely there (mentally). We just could not get going. They kept putting pressure on us and we could not find our feet and before we knew it we had lost a game we should never have lost.”

This week, though, there is no worry about the Boks not pitching.

“There is a lot of motivation to play them. There always is. A win would give us momentum into the new year. We certainly want to end on a high. A victory will not balance the books for the year as far as the critics are concerned but it will mean a lot to the players.” - The Star