by With all the talk of a breakaway league and global franchises, it is perhaps fitting that Twickenham hosts a classic friendly this weekend.
In the run-up to the match between England and South Africa there was much discussion about a new competition that would shake up club sport.
Franchises with elements from Formula 1, LIV Golf and the Indian Premier League are reportedly touring the world with teams filled with the game’s biggest stars.
It is said that such discussions are still in their infancy and whatever the end result, the importance and power of international rugby must not be forgotten.
England hosting South Africa on Saturday is a game that needs no introduction, especially given how Steve Borthwick’s side come into this Test.
This was supposed to be an autumn of progress for England, but instead it is turning into an autumn to forget. They suffered narrow defeats to New Zealand and Australia – and now the Springboks are in town.
The back-to-back world champions have played 11 Tests since lifting the trophy in Paris last year. They have won nine of them and lost twice, with those two defeats coming by just one point.
South Africa beat England by a point in the semi-finals last year en route to winning the World Cup and there has been bad blood between the two teams since then.
A racial row erupted when England’s Tom Curry claimed he was called a “white guy” by Bongi Mbonambi, a claim the South African hooker denied. Former England captain Courtney Lawes admitted in The Times this week that there was “real animosity” between the two teams, and Springbok captain Siya Kolisi repeated this in her speech on Friday.
“It’s always personal,” Kolisi said. “That’s just how we prepare for games. It has to be personal.
“It’s another man trying to hit you in the game, it doesn’t get any more personal than that. That’s why every game is personal for us.
“We know that we always have a target behind us. Every single team that plays against us…we have to make it as personal as possible because we want to stay where we are.”
England may be having a difficult autumn but a win against South Africa would change it. After two consecutive defeats, Borthwick has made four changes to his squad: full-back Freddie Steward, winger Ollie Sleightholme, scrum-half Jack van Poortvliet and flanker Sam Underhill are all in the starting lineup.
Steward’s inclusion suggests Borthwick is predicting a dogfight on Saturday, with the new kicking rules coming into effect this autumn also contributing.
For us, every game is something personal
South Africa captain Siya Kolisi
“They don’t want to make rugby union Australian rules. I thought our game was in pretty good shape. “There has been a sea change here,” Borthwick said.
“So far the sample size is quite small, but we are seeing a big increase in the number of kicks, the number of contested kicks, the number of scrums and the number of loose balls. This will only increase.”
South Africa, like England, has made changes. In total, Rassie Erasmus has replaced twelve players since last Sunday’s win in Scotland and cites the close turnaround as the reason for this.
Interestingly, the Springboks have opted for a 5-3 bench split after putting seven forwards on the bench last week.
Few would have expected this, and more than two hours before England named their team, Erasmus had correctly predicted what Borthwick would do.
“Freddie will definitely be a full-back,” he said. “He’s one of the best in the world.”
Erasmus and South Africa have shown in the past that they are England’s number one – and they will do so again.
Borthwick must prove that this is not the case or England will face the unwanted prospect of five defeats in a row.
