Slade: 'We have a plan for the Boks'

Henry Slade has insisted that England will resist the temptation to strip back their game plan in a quest to rescue their year-end campaign by toppling South Africa at Twickenham on Saturday.

England’s attack has evolved significantly since a watershed defeat by Scotland in February but they now find themselves amid a four-Test losing run that is expected to be extended by the back-to-back world champions.

It took a long-range penalty from Handre Pollard to sink Steve Borthwick’s men at the death when the rivals last met in a ferocious 2023 World Cup semifinal that has turned this weekend’s meeting into a grudge match.

England excelled at the Stade de France with a low-risk kicking strategy that was brilliantly executed but, in the words of wing Tommy Freeman, their ambition now is to “play big with our chests out”.

Slade added that they must continue to broaden their horizons – even against the Springboks.

“We are not going to shut up shop and go away from what we are trying to do,” the veteran Exeter centre said.

“We have got a DNA of how we want to play, how we want to attack and how we want to defend. We have a specific way we want to play each week, catered to each team, but we have our DNA in what we are trying to be about, which is ever-present.

“We will be pushing as hard as we can to accelerate that learning and improvement and hopefully get a good result against South Africa.”

England’s ability with the ball in hand was evident in the five tries they scored in the 42-37 defeat by Australia last Saturday – a loss which has placed them in must-win territory heading into the penultimate year-end fixture.

Crucially, however, they also leaked five tries and their second-highest number of points ever conceded at Twickenham, in the process missing a staggering 36 tackles. Joe El-Abd has taken charge of the defence following the shock resignation of Felix Jones in August and the aggressive blitz system introduced by the Irishman is now under the microscope.

“I feel like it is such a way of defending that if there is not a full buy-in, then cracks appear,” said Slade, an influential player for England due to his familiarity with the blitz as used by Exeter.

“The longer we have training, the more understanding everyone has as a group and getting on the same page, the more it can be a really powerful way of defending. We are trying to fast-track that learning. I feel this week there has been a big step forward in that regard.

“More emphasis has been put on it. We have had some games to review ourselves and had some scenarios to look at, so we can work out what we do in this scenario or that scenario.”

Narrow losses to New Zealand and Australia this year-end series mean the stakes are high at Twickenham this weekend. “When you look at things outcome-based, on the surface nought from two isn’t good with the double World Cup winners coming up. It is not an ideal situation to be in,” Slade said.

“But we feel like we have made some good strides as a group over these last four weeks and are looking forward to a big challenge on Saturday.”