AUTUMN INTERNATIONAL - ENGLAND v SOUTH AFRICA
Venue: Twickenham, London Date: Saturday, 27 November Kick-off: 1430 GMT Coverage: Watch on Sky Sports 1 and listen on Radio 5 Live; live text commentary, report and reaction on BBC Sport website and mobiles
 Ruan Pienaar returns to the South Africa squad |
World champions South Africa have made two changes for Saturday's clash against England following their 21-17 defeat to Scotland last weekend. Ulster scrum-half Ruan Pienaar replaces Francois Hougaard, who drops to the bench, while number eight Pierre Spies comes in for Ryan Kankowski. "This team has all the ability we need," said coach Peter de Villiers. "But what we all know is that we have to execute more accurately than we did against Scotland last week." The Springboks go into Saturday's Test looking to extend their winning run over England to seven games.  | 606: DEBATE |
But England are buoyed by recent victories against Australia and Samoa and will be encouraged by Scotland's victory against South Africa last Saturday. "That game [against Scotland] is behind us now but we've looked hard at the lessons of it and know that we can't allow let ourselves to make as many mistakes in our basic execution," added De Villiers. "England have made good progress since they started their tour to Australia this year and will be full of confidence. A full Twickenham will ensure that this is the toughest Test of the tour for us. "But Saturday's performance wasn't a true reflection of the talent in this squad and the players want to put that right and end the Test season on a high."
South Africa team to face England: Z Kirchner (Blue Bulls); G Aplon (Western Province), F Steyn (Racing Metro), J de Villiers (Western Province), L Mvovo (Sharks); M Steyn (Blue Bulls), R Pienaar (Ulster); T Mtawarira (Sharks), B du Plessis (Sharks), J du Plessis (Sharks), B Botha (Blue Bulls), V Matfield (Blue Bulls, capt), D Stegmann (Blue Bulls), J Smith (Cheetahs), P Spies (Blue Bulls).
Replacements: A Strauss (Cheetahs), CJ van der Linde (Cheetahs), F van der Merwe (Blue Bulls), W Alberts (Sharks), F Hougaard (Blue Bulls), P Lambie (Sharks), A Jacobs (Sharks).
| 
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version 
Bookmark with:
What are these?