England are planning to give South Africa a taste of their own powerful medicine as they look to end a 10-year stretch without a win against the Springboks on Saturday. The home side are ready for a traditionally full-blooded encounter but the scrum-half Ben Youngs is predicting a happier ending for England supporters than this fixture has supplied in the past decade.
With 10 successive Test wins already behind them England believe the moment has come to bury their South African hoodoo and, with Courtney Lawes expected to be available for selection, are intent on making their presence felt physically from the outset. “The physicality element of the game is going to be key,” said Youngs, who has faced the Springboks five times without winning. “We have to make sure that, from the start, we dominate that area. We feel like the time is now to get rid of the last 10 years and get a win against them.”
England have been further buoyed by the news that Maro Itoje, Owen Farrell and Billy Vunipola have been shortlisted for the World Rugby player of the year award alongside New Zealand’s Dane Coles and Beauden Barrett and Ireland’s Jamie Heaslip. Itoje will be sidelined by injury from the entire Old Mutual Wealth autumn series but Youngs suggests there is more than enough collective desire within the rest of the squad to ensure success in his absence.
“No one in the room has ever beaten South Africa and it’s something we all want to experience,” he said. “There’s absolutely no chance of complacency. Everyone knows the biggest thing they bring is physicality. You saw at the weekend they turn to their driving game from the maul to get them on the front foot. I think they’ll go back to tradition and try to beat us up to a degree. But the boys are really focused on that; we’ve worked hard on our tackle technique and physically winning the gainline.”
England’s starting XV will not be confirmed until Thursday but Lawes, assuming he suffers no delayed reaction having resumed training on Monday, appears to be back in the frame to start in the second row alongside Joe Launchbury. That gives Eddie Jones slightly less of a headache in the lineout, with the back rowers Nathan Hughes, Tom Wood and Teimana Harrison seemingly competing for two spots in the matchday 23 with Dave Attwood offering lock cover.
Any combination of Lawes – complimented for his “stopping power” by England’s defence coach Paul Gustard – Hughes, Attwood and Wood would certainly give Jones the extra physical edge he is seeking as England attempt to learn from the assorted bruising lessons of past Springbok encounters. The Melbourne Storm defence coach, Jason Ryles, has also been drafted in to improve England’s “two-man hits”, the aim being not just to stop their opponents but slow down their ball as well. “Whenever I’ve played them I’ve never felt we were outclassed … we were just physically beaten up,” Youngs said. “I’ve never come off the field feeling there has been a massive gap but ultimately the fundamentals of rugby are getting your set piece right, winning the gainline and winning the collisions. They probably haven’t had the results they’d like but sport can change very quickly.”
Ireland’s pulsating victory over New Zealand in Chicago has also encouraged Youngs that the northern hemisphere is on the up – “It shows the gap isn’t as big as people think” – and England’s unbeaten record under Jones in 2016 has also done plenty for red rose morale. “It does give you a huge amount of confidence,” Youngs said. “It’s a lot easier to learn when you’re winning than to learn lessons while you losing. It’s made the team grow and understand each other better. The time is now for us to kick on again and not settle for what we’ve done.”
South Africa have injury issues up front and behind the scrum. There is concern over the winger Bryan Habana who has a knee niggle, while the flanker Roelof Smit is out with a torn pectoral muscle. The Springboks coach, Allister Coetzee, has also indicated the outstanding lock Eben Etzebeth will “definitely” be the next South African to head overseas and stressed the Boks’ recent healthy record against England will not automatically ensure victory this time. “History won’t help us on Saturday but we’ll be up for it,” he said.
