Boks must be wary of England's Ellis Park trap

OPINION: The Springboks will have their own demons to exorcise when they travel to Ellis Park for the Nations Championship opener against England on Saturday.

The Boks delivered a series of unforgettable moments across a landmark 2025 Test season.

The outstanding wins against the All Blacks in Wellington, France in Paris, and Ireland in Dublin served to strengthen their grip on the World Rugby No.1 ranking.

Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and others spearheaded an ambitious approach that married attacking intent with the nation’s traditional set-piece and kicking strengths.

Coach Rassie Erasmus continued to develop the wider squad, blooding new players and bolstering the team’s options across every position.

Records were broken and new standards were set.

By the end of the year, most were in agreement that the greatest South African side of all time had scaled new heights.

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It wasn’t a perfect season, though, and some hard lessons were learned.

At one point, Erasmus went out of his way to label a particularly disappointing performance as “dogshit”.

The Bok coach delivered this frank assessment after the 22-38 loss to Australia at Ellis Park in the opening round of the Rugby Championship.

The Boks scored three spectacular tries in the first quarter, but were outplayed by a smarter and more determined Wallabies side in the second half.

It remains one of the heaviest defeats the group has sustained since Erasmus joined the set-up in 2018.

The Boks will return to Ellis Park next Saturday and face England in the opening game of the Nations Championship.

While they will start the game as favourites, they will recall the previous performance and result at this venue.

Drawing on that painful experience, they will know that even the great teams can lose and that fortresses can be breached.

Nobody gave the Wallabies a chance in 2025, and nobody is giving England a chance ahead of the next game at Ellis Park.

England have arrived in South Africa without regular skipper Maro Itoje and several other frontline forwards. Steve Borthwick’s side has lost its last four matches.

One can understand why the local community is salivating over the prospect of a battle at the spiritual home of South African rugby, and why many are predicting a big win for the hosts.

But given what we saw at Ellis Park last year, one would hope that the players are approaching the clash with a very different attitude.

Results may suggest otherwise, but England aren’t a weak side.

By the end of 2025, they had racked up 11 victories in succession.

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Back then, England were playing a brand similar to that of South Africa. Borthwick was favouring a six-two split on the bench, and managing his team to peak at the back end of big matches.

England didn’t build on those results in the 2026 Six Nations, but they did produce at least one eye-catching performance.

England pushed eventual Six Nations winners France close in the final round of the tournament.

Les Bleus needed a late penalty to secure a 48-46 win in Paris.

Anyone who has watched the English Premiership will have noted how the teams have prioritised attack in recent seasons, and how the Northampton Saints have led the charge.

Many of those Saints players will represent England this July, and the likes of Henry Pollock, Fin Smith, Tommy Freeman and others may fancy their chances at an Ellis Park venue that is ideal for running rugby.

It remains to be seen, of course, whether the Boks will engage with England in a free-flowing, you-score-I-score contest.

Looking back, the Boks have struggled to produce many dominant or controlled performances at this venue in recent years.

In 2018, Erasmus’ first home game in charge was a nerve-wracking affair.

England scored 24 points and three tries in the first quarter alone. The Boks showed terrific character to hit back and win the game 42-39.

The Boks thumped the All Blacks 26-10 in Nelspruit in the opening game of the 2022 Rugby Championship. A week later, they were beaten 35-23 by a more desperate New Zealand side at Ellis Park.

The Boks delivered an unconvincing performance in their 22-21 win against Argentina in 2023, and blew hot and cold in their 31-27 win against the All Blacks in 2024.

Last year, they paid the ultimate price for their complacency, and were criticised by all and sundry – with their coach delivering the most-scathing assessment of all.

As those past scorelines and scenarios suggest, no lead is safe at Ellis Park.

The Boks would do well to play to their own strengths this Saturday, rather than engage in an attacking shootout.

Some of their biggest victories in 2025 were built on a balanced approach.

Most will focus on the tries and points that were scored in the big wins against the All Blacks, Argentina, France, Ireland and Wales last year.

Closer analysis reveals how the Boks controlled the flow of those matches via a dominant set-piece and tactical kicking performance.

The Bok defence conceded an average of 17 points and two tries over the course of the season – and these numbers show why the 22-38 loss to Australia was such an aberration.

The lessons learned from last year’s loss should be at the forefront of the players’ minds.

They should be wary of the English threat on one of the quickest tracks in world rugby, and they should know that Saturday’s performance will set the tone for the rest of an important 2026 season.