All eyes on the skipper: England captain Jamie George (C)
Glyn KIRK
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Jamie George has told England to brace themselves for a “brutal battle” in a rugby “war” with world champions South Africa at Twickenham on Saturday.
The fixture will be the first time the teams have met since South Africa’s 16-15 victory in the 2023 World Cup semi-final in Paris — a stormy encounter made all the more bitter after accusations from England’s Tom Curry that he had been racially abused by the Springboks’ Bongi Mbonambi.
England are currently on a run of four straight defeats that includes last-gasp losses to both New Zealand (22-24) and Australia (37-42) in their opening two November internationals.
But beating back-to-back world champions South Africa would go some way to repairing the damage, with England captain George insisting his side will relish the physical challenge posed by the Springboks.
“Whenever you step on to the field for England in a Test you know you are in for a war, you know you are in for a battle, you know it is going to be brutal at times,” said George.
“But the sort of team we want to be, the expectation we have, is that we run and we run hard.”
The hooker added: “Our rivalry with South Africa is historic. There is always going to be an edge whenever we play them. It’s a physical game, a confrontational game.
“Their style of play is very at-you and direct and that’s the sort of game we like, the sort of game we enjoy.”
Some of England’s best recent performances have been forged in adversity, with this year’s 23-22 win over Ireland in the Six Nations coming just a fortnight after a lacklustre defeat by Scotland.
“Historically, we’ve been a team that reacts very well off the back of a poor performance,” said George. “And that’s what our game against Australia was, if we’re completely honest.
“It’s important not just to rely on history, but being clear about why we bounce back well and what is it about going into games as underdogs that brings the best out of us.
“We don’t always want to be in that situation, but of course we’re going to make the most of it this week…The team can take confidence from the fact that we’ve got clarity around what we did wrong against Australia, but more importantly — why.”
Meanwhile, George said England would attempt to be as confrontational at Twickenham as they were against the Springboks at last year’s World Cup.
“They seemed shocked by our physicality and our approach to the game so there’s going to be a blueprint there in terms of our knowledge of how to rattle South Africa,” he said.
“But we are a different team to then. We have evolved, they have evolved. They have a different coaching team, so have we. That’s going to be a really interesting part around who wins the game.”
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