England and South Africa will clash at the Allianz Stadium on Saturday for the first time since they clashed in the 2023 World Cup.
Here, the PA news agency examines five talking points ahead of the second match of the Autumn Nations series.
salvage work
Salvation is a precarious prize for England as they aim for a win that will save their autumn.
They extended their losing run to four Tests with narrow defeats to New Zealand and Australia, and for the first time questions were raised about coach Steve Borthwick, who responded by saying he had “100% support” from the Rugby Football Union. Got it.
A knockout of back-to-back world champions Japan a week later could salvage their campaign, but a loss on Saturday would see England’s back against the wall heading into the Six Nations.
Lassie is in court
As Borthwick began to feel the heat, South African coach Rassie Erasmus was willing to twist the knife.
The canny leader, who led the Springboks to World Cup wins in 2019 and 2023, said Borthwick was “under pressure” after two defeats already this month. head”.
Erasmus also criticized South Africa for having one day less preparation time than England, citing the confidence shown by wing Tommy Freeman in the home win and questioning whether the hosts were fit enough to run an ‘offensive’ defense for the entire match. It was a classic Erasmus mind game.
grudge match
England and South Africa went head-to-head at last fall’s World Cup. (Mike Egerton/PA)
The fierce competition became more intense in last autumn’s World Cup semi-final, with a late Handre Pollard penalty giving the Springboks a 16-15 win.
The testy encounter became the subject of a heated rivalry after England’s Tom Curry claimed Bongi Mbonambi had called him a “white ****” – a claim the South African hooker denied.
We couldn’t revisit that story in detail this week due to Curry’s absence from the rematch due to a concussion, but the game’s bad blood remains despite missing some of its key protagonists.
lord of the sky
Of the four changes made to the England line-up, the most significant one is the recall of full-back Freddie Steward.
New legal guidelines designed to make aerial duels more competitive have placed a premium on aerial ability and few players are better equipped than the 6’5″ Steward to handle the controversial kicks expected in South Africa George Furbank had a quiet fall, but rode his horse for course selection.
Australia’s towering rugby league convert Joseph Suaalii was particularly effective on the restart at Twickenham last Saturday and Steward is expected to be similarly involved.
Manny’s Salvation Shooting
South Africa made 12 changes following their 32-15 win over Scotland on Sunday. They fielded their strongest starting XV and opted for a traditional 5-3 split between the forwards and backs on the bench.
The return of Manie Libbok at fly-half in place of the highly dependable Pollard indicates an intention to attack England with the ball in their hands and the ball in the air.
And he was given a chance at redemption when the dynamic Reebok was substituted after a dismal 31 minutes in the semi-final 12 months ago. “We want to give men a second chance,” Erasmus said.
