England’s Autumn Nation Series has been something however a bore, having left their followers anticipating the surprising after securing a loss, win, and a draw.
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Meanwhile, South Africa got here storming again by spanking Italy 63-21 after slim defeats to Ireland and France, which means the chances of rescuing their end-of-tour dignity is in with a probability.
This is a massive encounter for each these nations, as not solely is it their last match of 2022, but in addition since either side can be determined to safe a win following a blended bag of ends in their November internationals, as we repeat the 2019 Rugby World Cup last with lower than a 12 months to go earlier than the 2023 version kicks off.
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Their final match towards New Zealand, though a sport of two halves, proved their preventing spirit as they surged again from 19-points down with 10 minutes left to earn a 25-25 draw, which means momentum is on their facet right here.
It was their first draw since March 2019 and leaves Eddie Jones’ males with a detrimental document for the 12 months (W5, D1, L6), though they’ll be assured of restoring parity contemplating they’ve bested the Springboks in three of the final 4 matches, and haven’t misplaced on residence soil to South Africa since November 2014.
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Eddie Jones has indicated his intent along with his squad choice earlier within the week, as he clearly goals to combat fireplace with fireplace given he’s chosen to retain 5 locks and drop flanker Jack Willis from his squad to take on South Africa.
Perennial chief within the squad Jamie George talked about the ahead pack have been “hurting” after being outmuscled towards the All Blacks, earlier than going on to reiterate his coach’s mantra when saying the Springboks provide “the perfect test for us as a front five off the back of a poor performance against New Zealand”.
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The Springboks bounced again with a vengeance towards the Italians final day out, with their 42-point win being their greatest successful margin since their 2019 RWC triumph after they beat lowly Canada 66-7.
Step up for England
They’ll be cautious of the step up in competitors England brings having misplaced to Ireland and France on this tour, and getting off to a quick begin would possibly show a good omen for the guests because the staff scoring first has received all however one in all their final 11 fixtures.
That would possibly come in useful contemplating they’ve misplaced their final two video games at Twickenham by a solitary level.
Coach Jacques Nienaber has rung the adjustments for his facet’s farewell match to their end-of-year tour, with 4 adjustments and two positional switches taking place inside the beginning XV.
Among the backs, Makazole Mapimpi and Jesse Kriel will occupy left-wing and inside-centre respectively, which means Damian de Allende and Kurt-Lee Arendse will shift to numbers 13 and 14 with Andre Esterhuizen and Cheslin Kolbe dropping out.
The forwards welcome Evan Roos again to the eighth man place and Eben Etzebeth takes up his traditional occupancy at lock, which means captain Siya Kolisi will principally martial a settled Springbok pack across the House of Rugby trying to break their latest Twickenham curse!
Players to observe
England full-back Freddie Steward might need a busy day given the Springboks kicking-heavy gameplan, though having scored a attempt in every of the final two take a look at matches reveals his offensive prowess shouldn’t be missed. While South Africa’s dynamite winger Kurt-Lee Arendse has been in superb type currently, scoring six tries in his final 5 take a look at matches for the Springboks.
Hot stat
Ten of South Africa’s final 12 matches have seen the second half produce extra factors than the primary half.
TEAMS:
England
15 Freddie Steward, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Manu Tuilagi, 12 Owen Farrell (captain), 11 Jonny May, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Jack van Poortvliet, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Tom Curry, 6 Alex Coles, 5 Jonny Hill, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Jamie George, 1 Mako Vunipola
Substitutes: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Ellis Genge, 18 Will Stuart, 19 David Ribbans, 20 Sam Simmonds, 21 Ben Youngs, 22 Henry Slade, 23 Jack Nowell
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South Africa
15 Willie le Roux, 14 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Damian Willemse, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Franco Mostert, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nche
Substitutes: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Thomas du Toit, 19 Marco van Staden, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Jaden Hendrikse, 22 Manie Libbok, 23 Canan Moodie
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