England v Springboks — Teams, Time & What to Expect

After a somewhat disappointing start to their northern hemisphere tour, with narrow losses to Ireland and France before convincingly beating Italy, the Springboks face a tough challenge to wrap up their Autumn Nations Cup with a battle against England at Twickenham.

The English have had a bit of a strange period themselves, losing to Argentina by one point, putting a big score on Japan the next week, and then drawing with the All Blacks. While all the sides involved in these fixtures have been improving in quality, it’s safe to say that it’s been a fairly unsatisfactory couple of weeks for both sides, who should be performing well beyond their current results.

Well, if there is any moment for these 2019 World Cup finalists and longtime rivals to make a statement, it’s always against one another.

There have been a few shake-ups from the Italy game within the Springboks 23, with coach Jacques Nienaber making eight changes and two positional switches, with Jesse Kriel (centre), Makazole Mapimpi (wing), Evan Roos (No 8) and Eben Etzebeth (lock) back in the starting line-up, while Damian de Allende moving from outside centre back to inside centre. Interestingly, Kurt-Lee Arendse will start at right wing after playing on the left in Genoa.

There were also four changes on the replacements bench, which will again feature the more traditional split of five forwards and three backs, with SA ‘A’ captain Thomas du Toit (prop), Marco van Staden (flanker), Jaden Hendrikse (scrumhalf) and Caden Moodie being drafted in.

A lot of the changes are forced, though, as Cheslin Kolbe, Andre Esterhuizen, Cobus Reinach, Jasper Wiese, and Vincent Koch have all been summoned back to their respective clubs.

On the other side of things, England has gone with a pretty stable selection from their All Blacks clash last weekend, with Marcus Smith and Owen Farrell pulling the strings at 10 and 12 respectively, and Northhampton Saints flyer Tommy Freeman coming in on the right wing.

Hooker Jamie George and Mako Vunipola have been brought in, with Vunipola particularly selected to presumably bring some physicality to the English pack, along with his brother Billy at No. 8. Maro Itoje and Jonny Hill stay at lock, while Alex Coles will start at Flank with Tom Curry.

Last weekend’s double-try scorer Will Stuart is named on the bench along with Luke Cowan-Dickie, David Ribbans, Sam Simmonds, Ben Youngs, Henry Slade and vice-captains Ellis Genge and Jack Nowell.

What We Think

Both sides are desperate to end their 2022 Test season on a high, more so than ever with the World Cup less than a year away. England and the Springboks just haven’t seemed to hit the potential they’re both capable of, having very good performances will be paramount for the high expectations of Jones and Nienaber. With that said, the Springboks’ pack loves playing England and may be too powerful for a growing, but still unsettled England defence. With the sharpshooting Smith and Farrell on hand, though, it’s likely to be close. Springboks by 5.

Kick-off time

The match kicks off at 19:30 (SA time) on Saturday, 26 November 2022.

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. Replacements: 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.

Springboks – 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.
Replacements: 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.

Image source: Twitter / @Springboks