World-leading Springboks wary of wounded England

EDINBURGH - Rassie Erasmus has warned his South Africa side they will be up against a "desperate" England when the world champions continue their November campaign at Twickenham on Nov 16.

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The Springboks returned to the top of the world rankings with a hard-fought 32-15 win over Scotland at Murrayfield on Nov 10.

That success came the day after England's dramatic 42-37 loss to Australia, their second straight defeat of the Autumn Nations Series, following a 24-22 reverse against New Zealand.

"Twickenham will be a different kind of pressure. It's a very desperate team, who have lost two matches now," said Springboks boss Erasmus.

"Australia might not be up there rankings-wise, but we know where they're going with (coach) Joe Schmidt. England is now that desperate team who almost beat New Zealand, almost beat Australia, so it's going to be a very tough game."

It will be South Africa's first match against Steve Borthwick's England since their dramatic 16-15 World Cup semi-final win in France in 2023.