Joe Marler goes from Covid isolation to white-hot centre of the rugby world warning South Africa that England are ready to fight.
The Red Rose prop has lost his taste but not his belief that the sports’ number one side can be brought crashing to earth.
Marler starts on the bench at a sold-out Twickenham today - held back with a view to diffusing the Springboks’ celebrated ‘bomb squad’ of second half replacements.
After a week spent training alone at home, running around a disused chicken run and lifting iron in his garage, he has declared himself ready to confront South Africa’s feared pack head on.
Marler said: “The way I feel with the Springbok front rowers, their scrummaging and their passion for it is you either stay and fight or you leg it.
“It’s very much a fight or flight and I run towards the fight side of it as I want to test myself against the best in the hottest environment.
“Can our Fight Club diffuse the Bomb Squad? We shall see. We'll give it a good try.”
England know well what they are up against and not just because these opponents thrashed them in the World Cup final.
Forwards coach Richard Cockerill admitted: “Physically from a scrum, set-piece and line-out point of view, there isn't a harder team to play against in the world at the moment.
“That's the challenge for us and it won't be one we'll shy away from. We’re looking forward to going into battle against South Africa. We'll fire our own bullets and play how we want to play.
“There are always points in the match where you have to match the opposition physically. If they think we have a weakness there that's up to them, but we certainly don’t."
