When the Springboks last faced England, at Twickenham in London, last year it was the home team who edged the Boks 27-26 in a thriller.
England flyhalf Marcus Smith slotted a last-minute penalty to see his side across the line.
Manie Tuilagi and Freddie Steward scored early tries for England, with the Boks’ Handre Pollard keeping the visitors in the game with the boot.
England led 17-12 at the break and then pulled ahead after the restart after a Raffi Quirke try.
Makazole Mapimpi though crossed for the Boks to close the gap. Replacement backs Elton Jantjies and Frans Steyn also slotted penalties to give the Boks a chance, but Smith’s late strike secured England the win.
Changes in 2022
With this Saturday’s match falling outside the international Test window both lineups are set to look quite different from the sides that faced off a year ago, on 20 November, in front of 81,623 fans.
The referee last year was Andrew Brace from Ireland.
Last year’s Bok team (15-1) looked like this:
Willie le Roux, Jesse Kriel, Lukhanyo Am, Damian de Allende, Makazole Mapimpi, Handre Pollard, Cobus Reinach, Duane Vermeulen, Kwagga Smith, Siya Kolisi, Lood de Jager, Eben Etzebeth, Trevor Nyakane, Bongi Mbonambi, Ox Nche. Bench: Malcolm Marx, Steven Kitshoff, Vincent Koch, Franco Mostert, Jasper Wiese, Herschel Jantjies, Elton Jantjies, Frans Steyn.
Am, Pollard and Reinach, among the backs, are unavailable for this weekend’s match, while there are also doubts around the fitness of Damian de Allende. In the forwards, Vermeulen is absent, De Jager is injured, and Nyakane is going back to his club, while the bench-sitters not available this week include Koch, Wiese, Jantjies and Steyn.
Saturday’s match kicks off at 7.30pm.
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