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'They will need to improve considerably to beat the Boks'

By Josh Raisey
Marcus Smith / PA

England and South Africa put their unbeaten Novembers on the line on Saturday as they meet for the first time since the 2019 World Cup final.

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Eddie Jones’ side have enjoyed victories over Tonga and Australia while Jacques Nienaber’s side have beaten Wales and Scotland this month. The hosts have picked up some casualties along the way though, with captain Owen Farrell ruled out of Saturday’s match with an ankle injury and Jamie George ruled out with a knee injury. Gloucester’s front row duo of Harry Elrington and Jack Singleton have been called up in their place.

The All Blacks‘ loss to Ireland on Saturday also meant the Springboks returned to number one in the world rankings, while England sit in third.

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Springbok captain Siyamthanda Kolisi speaks about the vexed issue of transformation

When, where and how to watch the match
The match will kick-off at 15:15 (GMT) on Saturday November 20th at Twickenham and will be broadcast live on Amazon Prime.

Head-to-head
Across their 43 encounters, South Africa have won 26 matches to England’s 15, with two draws. Since 2006, the Springboks have beaten England 14 times and have only tasted defeated on three occasions, with one draw. However, those three wins for England have come under Eddie Jones, who has a 50 percent win record agains the world champions with England.

Match odds from bet365
bet365  have the handicap on England at +1. There are also 9/2 odds that England win the match with a margin of 1-5 points and 4/1 that the Springboks win by the same margin.

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Prediction
England’s World Cup winning coach Sir Clive Woodward saw some promising signs in England’s 32-15 win over the Wallabies, but stressed in the Mail Online that there needs to be a major improvement if they are going to challenge this week’s visitors.

“England unquestionably deserved to win and that late score by Jamie Blamire put a gloss on proceedings but Eddie won’t be fooled. There needs to be a big step up against South Africa. England had some fresh young talent on view and there have been promises of a new approach but save for a few cameo moments it wasn’t really there.

“You want to play the kind of game that earned you international selection in the first place. So there is plenty to work on for England after Saturday. I would expect much better against South Africa and they will need to improve considerably to beat the Boks.”

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*Odds accurate as of 17/11/21.

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Bull Shark 1 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

Of the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.

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