England are braced for physical warfare when they seek to end their losing streak against South Africa on Saturday, according to the captain, Jamie George.
Steve Borthwick’s side host the back-to-back world champions at Twickenham having endured a four-game losing streak and have dropped to seventh in the world rankings. The Springboks, meanwhile, have returned to the No 1 spot and are heavy favourites to compound England’s misery.
Saturday’s clash will be the first encounter between the two sides since South Africa’s 16-15 victory in the 2023 World Cup semi-final and the toxic fallout following accusations from Tom Curry that Bongi Mbonambi made a racist slur at him.
“Whenever you step on the field for England in a Test match, you know you are in for a war, you know you are in for a battle, you know it is going to be brutal at times,” said George. “Whenever we play against South Africa the rivalry is historic. There is always going to be an edge whenever you play South Africa, it is a physical game, it is a confrontational game. Their style of play is very at-you and direct and that is the sort of game we like, the sort of game we enjoy.”
South Africa’s captain, Siya Kolisi, meanwhile, has acknowledged that Saturday’s match will be “personal” with the Springboks wary of a “desperate” England given their losing run. “It’s always personal,” he said. “That’s just how we prepare ourselves for games. It’s got to be personal, it’s another man trying to run through you in game, it doesn’t get more personal than that. So every game for us is personal.
“This one, at Twickenham, is a big game and we know what they’ve been going through. We know we’ve got a target on our back at all times. Every single team that plays against us, we’ve got to make it as personal as possible.”
