Investec Challenge 2008
ENGLAND v SOUTH AFRICA
Match Preview

England are aiming to bounce back from their defeat by Australia when they face South Africa on Saturday in a repeat of last year's World Cup final. The Wallabies loss was Martin Johnson's first as manager and he will demand his side cut out the indiscipline that gave the Aussies easy points.

Two games into the Johnson regime and it’s hardly surprising we’re left with far more questions than answers with regards to the national team. Will our brand new half back combination of Danny Care and Danny Cipriani be able to fulfil their enormous potential on the big stage at this early stage in their career? Is Delon Armitage the answer to England’s problem at fullback after a man of the match and more than decent couple of matches respectively? Is Steve Borthwick the true natural leader at international level that Saracens’ Eddie Jones claimed three weeks ago?

As far as so called ‘honeymoon periods’ go, Martin Johnson probably has these four Autumn Internationals, but he will no doubt be under far more pressure in the approaching Six Nations competition and good results will be expected. It’s no surprise then, that given England’s current situation, a semi-fresh coaching structure; one of the most inexperienced backlines in England’s recent history; and brand new combinations throughout the whole starting XV; that Johnno seems to value consistency of selection above all else. At least in the majority of cases.

Partnerships and on-field understandings take time to develop and one of the key failings of the last few years under Robinson and Ashton was the tendency to chop and change key players throughout the team. Inside centres, flankers, fullbacks and scrum halves were regularly swapped in and out of teams at an alarming rate. It was no wonder that Ashton has to wait till England’s first pool match at the World Cup before he knew his best XV. What Johnson now brings to the table is consistency and the ability to trust certain individuals, and give them a run of games, particularly in a backline that started out with zero instilled cohesion. It seems that one-off positional changes are another matter in the forwards though, and for the third week running, Johnson has tinkered with the pack, not due to poor games on anyone’s part, more to do with what each individual player can bring to the table versus that week’s specific opponent.

The biggest talking point of the week, selection wise comes in the form of Wasps flanker-cum-number 8 James Haskell being picked to replace Tom Croft at blindside. Haskell was one of the England's few successes on the ill-fated summer tour of New Zealand but struggled for form as Wasps made a poor start to the season.

Croft took his place for the Tests against the Pacific Islanders and Australia but the 6ft 4in, 18 stone Haskell offers a more physical presence in defence and as a ball carrier around the fringes and impressed after coming on midway through Saturday's defeat by the Wallabies. He clearly seemed like one who had a point to prove and will get his change this weekend against South Africa who, given the immense strength and physicality of their pack, will present a very different challenge to that of Australia.

"If I didn't think I was up to the challenge I'd be hiding in my room and be driving my car out of here. I feel I can compete on the international stage," said Haskell. “What I bring is ball carrying and tackling and I'll just try to play my normal game. It's how the team plays and how I fit into it. One man can't beat a South Africa team."

England boss Martin Johnson said the decision to go with Haskell was not because Croft had played badly in his two starts.

"James Haskell is a different type of player," said Johnson. "They're both exciting young guys, they're both very good players, they're just a little bit different in what they can bring to the team. We thought this week, against this opposition, James was the right guy to start at six."

Elsewhere the team is unchanged to that which started against Australia, although Michael Lipman has been replaced with young Leicester number 8 Jordan Crane on the bench as Johnson continues to employ a 5-2 split on the bench, which thus far, touch wood, hasn’t been uncovered as a problem.

Question marks remain over the out of the blue ditching of in-form London Irish lock Nick Kennedy, who disappeared from the match day 22 without a trace after his impressive try scoring debut against the Pacific Islanders. Considering Kennedy is highly regarded as one of the best lineout operators in the Guinness Premiership, there may have been a very strong case to bring him back given South African World Cup winners and lineout kings Victor Matfield and Bakkies Botha lie in wait on Saturday. The matter of lineout athlete Tom Croft’s exclusion only compounds the issue, not to mention England’s poor stats in that particular set-piece last week against Australia.

Finally under-performing prop Andrew Sheridan has been withdrawn from the team due to his injured neck as a precautionary measure and eight-capped Tim Payne is brought straight into the starting XV, bypassing in-form Matt Stevens on the bench, who is clearly seen as a utility prop, able to inject pace and impact onto the game in the latter stages of the match.

Captain Steve Borthwick said: "Andrew Sheridan is a very important player to us but we also believe we have some great depth in props. We have the ability to bring Matt Stevens off the bench, Phil Vickery can also play either side. We have great flexibility and great power."

Payne has won eight caps for England, his last appearance coming on the summer tour to New Zealand, when he again deputised for Sheridan who had suffered a gash to the eye.

South Africa have their own problems, as their coach Peter DeVilliers spoke of in no uncertain terms, when he perhaps unwisely said that his players are suffering from mental and physical exhaustion after a long hard season, and couldn’t wait to get back home. On the other side of the coin however, the Boks may well be tired, but who would bet against them giving their all in one final game against England, a side they’ve beaten five times consecutively since November 2006. Coaches sometimes find it hard to balance the truth with what diplomatically they should say as De Villiers, a good if new man on the international scene, found out pretty quickly when senior players gave a more "on message" view that they were 100% focused on Twickenham tomorrow. Going home to their families hadn't crossed their minds.

South Africa arrive in London on the back of a narrow 14-10 victory over Scotland last Saturday. De Villiers has made two enforced changes, with Du Plessis replacing his brother Bismarck in the front row, captain John Smit revrting to hooker, and Rossouw replacing the injured Juan Smith. Lock Bakkies Botha admits the world champions are feeling the effects of a gruelling year, but insists they are intent on going out on a high.

"We're going into this Test match to give 100% because if we're not then a side like England can expose you," he said. "We'll go out this weekend to give it our all because we know it's our last one and then we break for the off-season back home."

Indiscipline, tactical naivety and an inability to finish off well worked changes cost England victory last week against the Wallabies. With a potential top 4 place in the IRB World rankings come December-time when the 2011 world cup pools will be seeded on offer, England will be determined to give a better showing of themselves this weekend and get their Autumn campaign back on track.



Venue: Twickenham Date: Saturday, 22 November Kick-off: 1430 GMT

England: Delon Armitage; Paul Sackey, Jamie Noon, Riki Flutey, Ugo Monye; Danny Cipriani, Danny Care; Tim Payne, Lee Mears, Phil Vickery, Steve Borthwick (capt), Tom Palmer, James Haskell, Tom Rees, Nick Easter.
Replacements: Dylan Hartley, Matt Stevens, Simon Shaw, Tom Croft, Jordan Crane, Harry Ellis, Toby Flood.

South Africa: Conrad Jantjes; JP Pietersen, Adrian Jacobs, Jean de Villiers, Bryan Habana; Ruan Pienaar, Ricky Januarie; Tendai Mtawarira, John Smit (capt), Jannie du Plessis, Bakkies Botha, Victor Matfield, Schalk Burger, Danie Rossouw, Pierre Spies.
Replacements: Chiliboy Ralepelle, Brian Mujati, Andries Bekker, Ryan Kankowski, Heinrich Brussow, Francois Steyn, Jaque Fourie.