Rassie Erasmus anticipates that England will arrive at their match against South Africa on Saturday with a palpable sense of frustration, labeling them as “desperate” for a victory after suffering two consecutive losses in their autumn campaign. Erasmus’s world champions reclaimed the world No 1 ranking with a somewhat uneven 32-15 victory over Scotland on Sunday, marking the start of their own series of Tests in the northern hemisphere. They now prepare to travel to Twickenham to face Steve Borthwick’s team, who are struggling after narrowly losing to both New Zealand and Australia, 24-22 and 42-37 respectively, despite expecting to win both matches on home soil.
“Twickenham will present a different kind of challenge,” Erasmus remarked. “With 80,000 spectators, the pressure will be immense. England will be extremely eager to secure a win. They came close to defeating New Zealand and Australia. This is going to be an incredibly tough game.” Saturday’s encounter will mark South Africa’s first match against England since their thrilling 16-15 World Cup semi-final victory in France last year, a match in which England had led for the majority of the time. Since then, losing close games in the final moments has become a troubling pattern for Borthwick’s team.
Adding to the hosts’ concerns, who have already lost Tom Curry and Immanuel Feyi-Waboso from their squad due to injuries, the Springboks strategically employed a 7-1 bench split in Edinburgh to ensure their renowned forwards remained as fresh as possible. This tactical decision was made with the intention of maintaining freshness given the six-day turnaround, and it echoes the strategy that led to England’s World Cup defeats against South Africa in both 2019 and 2023.
“We rested the two packs for specific reasons. We aim to keep the team fresh with the short turnaround,” Erasmus added.
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