Revamped England hope to disrupt mighty Springboks

The mixed memories of an enchanting Paris evening cut short have swirled in English heads for 13 months.

- HARRY LATHAM-COYLE

For 60 minutes of a World Cup semi-final, England had shaken the eventual double world champions off their axis; matching rugby's superheavyweights blow for blow until the Springboks roared off the ropes.

It remains a performance to which Steve Borthwick frequently refers with pride, a gameplan conceived, adhered to and executed to the head coach's liking. Several senior England players believe they successfully "rattled" South Africa - so much so that head coach Rassie Erasmus hooked his starting flyhalf after half an hour.

But England, of course, lost at the Stade de France. By a combination of sheer scrum might and Handre Pollard's deadeye accuracy from the tee, the champions found a way.

The challenge now for Borthwick and his side is to mix that same intoxicating potion under the significant pressure that four consecutive defeats bring, while also finding the extra edge his side lacked both then and, more pertinently, in their last four fixtures. The England head coach was as angry as at any point during his tenure after a careless, chaotic defeat to the Wallabies that left him and his side struggling to preach for patience. Show that much clear vulnerability again, and England will know what awaits them against a South African side who have become rugby's apex predator.

"In that semi-final - and we talked about this - there were chances that we did not take in a very tight game," Borthwick reflected. "What we've developed and what we've certainly been improving upon, is taking our chances when they're there, for us to go on and actually being able to create more chances.

"We think we've developed our game a little bit from where we were in 2023. We feel there's some more attacking opportunities within us and there's more ball movement within us. We're a different team than what we were then and we're aiming to cause them some problems."