England will look to bring the curtain down on an impressive autumn campaign with victory over South Africa at Twickenham on Saturday. They go into their final Investec International match against South Africa on the back of two big wins, already satisfying new RFU Chief Executive’s John Steele’s requirement of two from four.

Martin Johnson has decided to revert to the starting VX that played so well against Australia two week previously, the only change comes on the bench where Matt Banahan did enough against Samoa to justify his inclusion in the match day squad.

Dan Cole, one of the many finds of the year returns the starting line-up, displacing the equally effective David Wilson back to the bench. The Leicester tighthead will no doubt be relishing his battle against Tendai Mtawarira at scrum time. Moody returns to captain the side once more, and Tindall regains the outside centre shirt to amongst other things, satisfy Johnson’s preference for physicality in the midfield.

Andrew Sheridan has shown signs he's back to his powerful rampaging best in the loose and tight

The contrast between this autumn and last year couldn’t be any more clear. Whilst last year Johnson saw his England squad decimated by injuries to two dozen front-line players, continuity and an extremely short injury list seems to be the order of the day this year, and it’s no surprise that England’s fortunes have improved as a result. One of the hallmarks of the Johnson era has been consistency of selection and it appears to be working; England will have used only 24 players in all three Tri-Nations matches.

England were never going to blow Samoa away last weekend, no team manage to these days. When the Pacific Islanders concentrated their game-plan on defence, physicality and throwing numbers into the contact to disrupt England ball, Johnson’s side took it’s time to adjust but you feel it provided the perfect preparation for this weekend’s match.

One area that needs to improve is finishing and being clinical when in the opposition 22. Tries went begging against New Zealand in the final quarter that could have made the difference between winning and losing that Test match. Against Australia, for all that top-quality possession and those line breaks, England still only scored two tries against their opponents, albeit most forays into the 22 ending up with penalty shots at the uprights to widen the lead. Against Samoa, three or four seemingly clear-cut tries went begging due to lacklustre finishing. It’s an area Johnson will be looking to address, but one that should improve with time.

Juan Smith has been in impressive form for the Boks

Another area of concern for England for this weekend would be the lineout that hasn’t always functioned impeccably on its own throw, nor have the second rows managed to snaffle much opposition ball in the air. Against the world class duo of Bakkies Botha and Victor Matfield, it’ll have to be at its best to provide England with a steady supply of ball and not relinquish possession to the Boks. Tom Palmer, Courtney Lawes, and Tom Croft, who returns to the starting XV, will have their work cut out for them.

World champions South Africa have made two changes for Saturday's clash against England following their shock 21-17 defeat to Scotland last weekend.

Ulster scrum-half Ruan Pienaar replaces Francois Hougaard, who drops to the bench, while number eight Pierre Spies comes in for Ryan Kankowski.

"This team has all the ability we need," said coach Peter de Villiers. "But what we all know is that we have to execute more accurately than we did against Scotland last week."

Whilst Peter DeVilliers’ side hasn’t endured the best of years, they still managed to dispatch Wales and Ireland whilst not at their best, and the Boks are going for their seventh straight win over England, having thumped the hosts 42-6 in their last meeting at Twickenham.

“Two years ago we created a lot against South Africa but they were brutally efficient and if you let a machine roll over you for one they will score two,” said Johnson. “We are a team that have got potential and we have to bring that out every week. Executing in the heat of battle is something we have to get right. This is balls out rugby.”

England allowed Samoa to bully them at the early contact situations and were struggling somewhat before restoring some order but this cannot be allowed to happen against the more ruthless Springboks.

England are getting better and a hard-fought win over the world champions will prove this is the case, setting them up nicely to challenge for the Six Nations title in February. The Boks will be on the rampage after their embarrassing loss to Scotland last weekend, but their lack of confidence and short-sighted gameplan doesn't help their cause. That and some key players missing means England won't have a much better chance to beat South Africa, and justifiably so, they probably start as slight favourites.

Will Mark Cueto continue his impressive run of form this autumn and finally get the try he so desperately deserves?


ENGLAND v SOUTH AFRICA MATCH FACTS

:: England and South Africa have played 31 Tests dating back to their first meeting at Crystal Palace in 1906, which finished a 3-3 draw.

:: South Africa lead the series 18-12 with one draw.

:: England's biggest win against South Africa was 53-3 at Twickenham in 2002. The Springboks' biggest victory was 58-10 at Bloemfontein in 2007.

:: That defeat was England's second-heaviest in 136 years of Test rugby, beaten only by the 76-0 thrashing by Australia in 1998.

:: South Africa inflicted England's heaviest ever home defeat in 2008, when the Springboks won 42-6 at Twickenham.

:: England have only two survivors in their starting XV from that game - Tom Palmer and Nick Easter.

:: South Africa have won their last six Tests against England, including the 2007 Rugby World Cup final. Their best run of results in the history of the fixture.

:: Mark Cueto has not scored a try in his last 16 Tests for England - but he has touched down in three of his four games against South Africa.

:: Victor Matfield will extend his record as the most capped player in South African Test history, making his 105th appearance.


England: 15 Ben Foden, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Mike Tindall, 12 Shontayne Hape, 11 Mark Cueto, 10 Toby Flood, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Nick Easter, 7 Lewis Moody (c), 6 Tom Croft, 5 Tom Palmer, 4 Courtney Lawes, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Andrew Sheridan.
Replacements: 16 Steve Thompson, 17 David Wilson, 18 Simon Shaw, 19 Hendre Fourie, 20 Danny Care, 21 Charlie Hodgson, 22 Matt Banahan.

South Africa: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Gio Aplon, 13 Frans Steyn, 12 Jean De Villiers, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Morne Steyn, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Victor Matfield (capt), 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 CJ Van der Linde, 18 Flip van der Merwe, 19 Willem Alberts, 20 Francois Hougaard, 21 Patrick Lambie, 22 Adi Jacobs.