Can England Upset the Odds?

What a weekend of sport we have lined up! The World Cup, Wimbledon, The British Grand Prix and now, of course, the brand new Nations Championship! Cancel those BBQ plans, order in the snacks and break out those comfy sweats... because you're not gonna wanna leave that couch!

So as England take on the World Champion Springboks this Saturday, the question is an all too familiar one --

Can they do the impossible and beat South Africa in their own backyard?

It wasn't too long ago that England were on a 12-game winning run and fans were desperate for this fixture. I mean, after all, how could that streak be validated without playing the best in the world?  

And then the Six Nations happened and England had their pants well and truly pulled down... They lost to Scotland for the fifth time in six years, got beaten by Italy for the first time ever and suffered a record home loss to Ireland by a 42-21 margin at Twickenham. By the end of the tournament, they were sitting fifth in the standings, their lowest ever finish. It's fair to say the wheels well and truly came off.

That said, no one relishes the underdog tag more than the English. 

Marcus Smith is confident England can cause an upset. "It's one shot," said Smith, who has now played 50 tests for his country. "We've spoken about leaving it all out there. It's a hell of an opportunity. I don't think England have been there since 2018 so we could create history, going down there to deliver a result."

"English teams and boys have had success down in South Africa with their club sides, so we will try to pool that knowledge and information to make sure we're best prepared. We know that if we want to be (in the finals) we've got to start fast and start well. I guess there's no bigger test than South Africa in Johannesburg. They've been leading the way in world rugby for a few years now but it's a challenge we're definitely up for."

South Africa's head coach, Rassie Erasmus, meanwhile, says the Boks will be respectful of their opponents. "The England squad is good - their average age is about 27, and Test caps around 32, so it's a young yet experienced squad," said Erasmus.

There are a few older players in their 30s, which brings the experience, but the young guys will add fearlessness into a team that was in the 2023 World Cup semi-final and who have competed really well off the back of the Premiership. It's a very competitive squad and we know we'll have to work really hard if we want to get a win."

England head coach Steve Borthwick has named an exciting team to take on the challenge with five changes to the starting XV from the side that narrowly lost 48-46 to France in the final round of the Six Nations:

George Furbank will make his first England start since 2024 and lines up in the back three alongside the exciting Immanuel Feyi-Waboso. Jack van Poortvliet comes in at scrum-half, George Martin in the second row, while Tom Curry returns to the back row. Jamie George takes over as captain in the absence of rested skipper Maro Itoje.

"Playing South Africa at Ellis Park is one of the great Tests in world rugby and an opportunity we're excited to embrace," said Borthwick. "We've prepared well since we arrived here last week and I sense a real excitement within the squad to get our Nations Championship campaign underway."

Fighting talk indeed... Let's see if they can back it up this Saturday. 

Over to you, boys!