England are looking to turn the tide in the Autumn Nations Series when they host South Africa later today.
Fine margins and game management have once again been key problems for Steve Borthwick’s side at Twickenham this month, with a dramatic late loss to New Zealand followed promptly by a wild last-gasp defeat by Australia.
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That followed a summer in which England were narrowly edged out twice by the All Blacks despite leading both Test matches for long stretches, while they also came up just short against France in the Six Nations and against the Springboks in last year’s Rugby World Cup semi-finals.
They will have a chance to avenge that latter defeat on Saturday evening when reigning world champions South Africa head to south-west London off the back of a hard-fought win over Scotland last time out.
The formidable Boks certainly weren’t at their best at Murrayfield in their first match since winning the Rugby Championship for the first time since 2019 back in September, but prevailed 32-15 for a ninth consecutive victory over the Scots courtesy of a brace from Makazole Mapimpi and further tries from Thomas du Toit and Jasper Wiese.
England vs South Africa date, kick-off time and venue
England vs South Africa takes place today, Saturday November 16, 2024 at Allianz Stadium Twickenham. Kick-off is scheduled for 5:40pm GMT.
It is the penultimate contest of England’s four-match autumn campaign, with only a meeting with Eddie Jones’ Japan side left to come.
How to watch England vs South Africa
TV channel: In the UK, today’s showdown is being broadcast live on TNT Sports 1, with coverage beginning at 5:15pm GMT after Scotland’s clash with Portugal.
Live stream: Subscribers can also catch the game live online via the Discovery+ website and app.
Live blog: Follow all the action on matchday with Standard Sport’s live blog, featuring analysis from Simon Collings at Twickenham.
England vs South Africa team news
England’s fortunes against South Africa will not be helped by the dual absence of Tom Curry and Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, who have both withdrawn from the squad due to head injuries suffered in Saturday’s last-gasp 42-37 loss to the resurgent Wallabies.
They have been replaced in the wider squad by Bath flanker Ted Hill and Sale wing Tom Roebuck. Sam Underhill replaces Curry in England’s back row, with Ollie Sleightholme coming in out wide for a first start after his two-try outing off the bench against Australia.
There are two other changes from Borthwick, with George Furbank dropping out completely as Freddie Steward returns at full-back and Ben Spencer replaced by Jack van Poortvliet at scrum-half. Roebuck is added to the bench.
As for the Springboks, a number of huge names return to the starting lineup at Twickenham after the rotation seen against Scotland that once again underlined their fearsome strength in depth.
That number includes influential captain Siya Kolisi and star flanker Pieter-Steph du Toit, while the likes of Kurt-Lee Arendse, Cheslin Kolbe, Damian de Allende and Jesse Kriel were all omitted entirely at Murrayfield as head coach Rassie Erasmus bolstered his famous ‘Bomb Squad’ by opting to bring back the 7-1 bench split that made headlines during last year’s narrow World Cup final win over New Zealand in Paris.
However, they all start this weekend in 12 changes from Scotland. Former Harlequins prop Wilco Louw starts at prop for the first time in three years, having been a late call-up for the tour.
Exciting fly-half Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu is among the South Africa players missing the autumn series through injury, along with Salmaan Moerat, Steven Kitshoff, Faf de Klerk and Lood de Jager.
England vs South Africa lineups
England XV: Steward; Freeman, Lawrence, Slade, Sleightholme; M Smith, Van Poortvliet; Genge, George (c), Stuart; Itoje, Martin; Cunningham-South, Underhill, Earl
Replacements: Cowan-Dickie, Baxter, Cole, Isiekwe, Dombrandt, Randall, Ford, Roebuck
South Africa XV: Fassi; Kolbe, Kriel, De Allende, Arendse; Libbok, Williams; Nche, Mbonambi, Loux; Etzebeth, Snyman; Kolisi (c), Du Toit, Wiese
Replacements: Marx, Steenekamp, Koch, Louw, Smith, Reinach, Pollard, Am
England vs South Africa head to head (h2h) history and results
These two sides last met in the 2023 World Cup semi-finals in France, when Handre Pollard’s late penalty condemned surprise package England to a heartbreaking 16-15 loss.
South Africa also edged out England in the 2019 World Cup final in Yokohama, later winning 27-13 at Twickenham in November 2022 despite Thomas du Toit's sending off having lost by a single point a year earlier, 27-26, after Marcus Smith’s kick with just seconds to spare. The Springboks have a commanding lead in the overall head to head and have lost just one of the last four meetings.
England wins: 16
South Africa wins: 28
Draws: 2
England vs South Africa prediction
England could not ask for tougher opponents as they desperately seek to bounce back from their series of maddening close defeats.
While not firing on all cylinders with a rotated side against Scotland, South Africa remain the best team on the planet - a finely-tuned and intensely physical winning machine who possess ridiculous strength in depth and significant threats all over the pitch.
The alarm bells should be ringing loudly for Borthwick after his leaky team shipped 42 points at home against an Australia side that are comfortably inferior to the Boks and who absolutely dismantled their broken blitz defence with ease, led by ultra-talented rugby league convert Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii.
As ever with England vs South Africa and Rassie Erasmus, expect talking points and controversies galore as hostilities are renewed, with the visitors likely emerging as comfortable victors from a no doubt gruelling battle to put more pressure on a struggling Borthwick whose team continue to lack crucial execution in important moments.
South Africa to win, by 10 points.
England vs South Africa match odds
England to win: 23/10
South Africa to win: 4/11
Draw: 25/1
Odds via Betfair (subject to change).
