England have been labeled a ‘desperate team’ by South African rugby coach Rassie Erasmus. He warned his players to expect a response from Steve Borthwick’s struggling side.
England have lost their second successive Autumn Nations Series match after being thwarted 42-37 by Australia on Saturday. Max Jorgenson’s last-minute try gave the Wallabies the win after they were trailing with just two minutes remaining.
Borthwick’s men were in the driver’s seat when Marcus Smith scored off Maro Itoje’s try in the 78th minute. But they were unable to hold on to their narrow advantage and their slim lead was shattered by Australia in the second half.
They also lost narrowly, losing 24-22 to New Zealand, and next face a monumental test against South Africa, who beat Scotland 32-15 at Murrayfield on Sunday.
But Springboks coach Erasmus is under no illusions that England will be a tough opponent, especially in front of a huge crowd at the 82,000-seat Twickenham Stadium.
“Twickenham will apply a different kind of pressure,” Erasmus said. “This is a very desperate team that has lost two games now. Australia may not be at the top of the table in terms of rankings, but they know where they are headed with (coach) Joe Schmidt.
“It will be a very tough game for England as they are now a desperate team who almost beat New Zealand and Australia.”
England’s latest defeat has had pundits criticizing their performance after they let go of a lead in the final minutes of the game. Matt Dawson, a member of the 2003 World Cup winning squad, accused Borthwick and his players of struggling under pressure.
“You can’t miss an incredible try when Australia were under pressure. England did it!” Dawson said.
“How many times have England had a game under their control and gone back to this terrible box kicking? They end up in trouble every time.
“For 65 minutes England were fantastic. For the last 15 minutes they were rubbish.”
This is the first meeting between the two countries since South Africa won a dramatic semifinal victory in France last year.
South Africa, now regarded as the best team in the world, could put pressure on coach Borthwick after calls for him to be sacked grew exponentially.
However, the Rugby Football Union (RFU) believes England’s current situation is different from their disastrous run under former manager Eddie Jones and has pledged “100% support” for Borthwick, according to The Guardian.
