VIDEO: Rassie sends warning to players ahead of England showdown
SPOTLIGHT: The Springboks will be bracing themselves for a huge showdown against an England team desperate to right the wrongs after suffering back-to-back home defeats.
Rassie Erasmus’ side kicked off their November campaign with a 32-15 win over Scotland on Sunday, while Steve Borthwick’s side are coming off a dramatic 37-42 defeat to the Wallabies.
England also suffered a 22-24 defeat to the All Blacks a week earlier and the pressure will mount if they fail to deliver the goods against the Boks.
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“Twickenham will be a different challenge,” Erasmus told reporters after his team’s victory in Edinburgh.
“There will be 80,000 people and that is a different kind of pressure.
“It’s a very desperate team, who have lost two matches now.
“Australia is probably not up there ranking-wise, but we know where they are going with Joe Schmidt.”
Erasmus added: “England is now that desperate team who almost beat New Zealand and Australia, so it’s going to be very tough.
“We will be selecting [the team] internally tomorrow [Monday] and announcing it probably the day after [Tuesday].”
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Erasmus is hoping his use of the Bomb Squad against Scotland will keep his pack fresh for the Twickenham showdown.
The Boks employed a seven-one split between forwards and backs for the Murrayfield match and those seven forwards were all in the field early in the second half.
“It’s a tough one. We rested the two packs for a reason because we also want them to be fresh after the six-day turnaround,” Erasmus explained.
“Guys like Damian [de Allende], Jesse [Kriel] and Cheslin [Kolbe] will all come into the reckoning for that game.”
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#SPOTLIGHT: Erasmus: ‘It’s not a performance we are very proud of’ 👇#Scotland #SouthAfrica #Springboks #SCOvRSA https://t.co/rdp0ip5A9i
— rugby365.com (@rugby365com) November 10, 2024
