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Jamie George has prepared England for sporting “war” against South Africa on Saturday as they look to harness the strength they draw from being underdogs.
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The rivals clash at Allianz Stadium in a grudge rematch of the 2023 World Cup semi-final, with Steve Borthwick’s men playing to salvage an autumn that has been marred by narrow losses to New Zealand and Australia.
Victory over the all-conquering back-to-back world champions would ease the pressure that has built on Borthwick during a four-game losing run – and George has laid out what it will take to deliver the result.
“Whenever you step on to the field for England in a Test 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,” the England captain said.
“But the sort of team we want to be, the expectation we have, is that we run and we run hard.
“Our rivalry with South Africa is historic. There is always going to be an edge whenever we play them. It’s a physical game, a confrontational game.
“Their style of play is very at-you and direct and that’s the sort of game we like, the sort of game we enjoy.”
England have developed the habit of delivering some of their best performances when their backs are against the wall, with this year’s 23-22 victory over Ireland a classic example.
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Two weeks earlier they fell to a watershed defeat by Scotland at Murrayfield, out of which developed a desire to show greater ambition and accuracy on the field.
The first test of that was Andy Farrell’s feared Ireland and England duly completed a famous win that gave 2024 an air of respectability – until their recent run of losses.
“Historically, we’ve been a team that reacts very well off the back of a poor performance. And that’s what our game against Australia was, if we’re completely honest,” George said.
“It’s important not just to rely on history, but being clear about why we bounce back well and what is it about going into games as underdogs that brings the best out of us.
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“We don’t always want to be in that situation, but of course we’re going to make the most of it this week.
“I reflect off the back of the Scotland week and how we turned things around against Ireland. This has a very similar feel to that week and there are a lot of things that we got right that week that are very important going into Saturday.
“The team can take confidence from the fact that we’ve got clarity around what we did wrong against Australia, but more importantly – why.”
George also sees value in revisiting the confrontational approach that troubled the Springboks in Paris 12 months ago.
“They seemed shocked by our physicality and our approach to the game so there’s going to be a blueprint there in terms of our knowledge of how to rattle South Africa,” he said.
“But we are a different team to then. We have evolved, they have evolved. They have a different coaching team, so have we. That’s going to be a really interesting part around who wins the game.”
In this episode of Walk the Talk, Jim Hamilton chats with double World Cup winner Damian de Allende about all things Springbok rugby, including RWC2023 and the upcoming Ireland series. Watch now for free on RugbyPass TV
