LONG READ 'This isn’t some David and Goliath contest. SA cannot be regarded as a free shot for England’

Listen to most of the commentary ahead of England’s Nations Championship opener against South Africa and it would be hard to come to any other conclusion other than this is a free hit for Steve Borthwick’s side.

No-one expects them to win at Ellis Park against the double world champions so there are no consequences for them in losing.

So have a swing lads and when you lose, don’t worry, the circus moves on.

Should this really be the case? Should any game for England be viewed in this way? Whatever the elevated status of the opposition, since when has any England side just been along for the ride?

Things have reached a pretty pass if the world’s richest union are the 7-1 outsiders that some bookmakers have them down as in a two-horse race.

Of course, money does not buy happiness and the ground has been stony in the red rose garden for a few months now.

A dismal Six Nations saw England limp in fifth out of six with just one win against Wales. Borthwick’s position was put under the microscope in the RFU’s post-championship review. He survived, partly through England’s lively performance in defeat against France on the final weekend and partly because the RFU did not fancy another coaching upheaval relatively close to a World Cup.

But the knock-on effect has seen expectations eviscerated to an extreme degree. It is as if England have suddenly become Romania.

It is hard to see how England should ever be cut the slack to be regarded as also-rans in any company. The white shirt should always come with expectation.

It seems to have been universally forgotten that there were 13 Englishmen selected for the Lions tour last summer. Ten of those are in South Africa for this Test.

Maro Itoje, as captain, is an obvious miss and a fit Will Stuart and Elliot Daly would also have been involved in some capacity but there are some very good players available to England. There always are.

The supply line, even from a slimmed-down Prem, is the envy of so many other nations.

That being the case, it is hard to see how England should ever be cut the slack to be regarded as also-rans in any company. The white shirt should always come with expectation.

In 2018 when England last came to South Africa under Eddie Jones, they did so on the back of a similarly poor Six Nations.

England, despite basing themselves at sea level in what seemed like a deliberate attempt to make life harder for themselves when they played at altitude, pushed South Africa extremely close at Ellis Park before going down 42-39.

They lost that series but did at least win a Test, the final one in Cape Town.

When they faced the Springboks at the last World Cup in the semi-final in Paris, England took them to the last kick. And that wasn’t an England team in the rudest of health either.

The rain-lashed conditions may well have been a levelling factor but they were still a couple of minutes away from knocking the Boks out.

Scoring seven tries against the Six Nations champions was touted as a success. And it was. Up to a point. But they lost the match. Heroic defeat has its attractions, but it is still defeat.

Whatever the size of the Springboks pack, this isn’t some David and Goliath contest in global rugby terms. Consequently, it cannot be simply regarded as a free shot for England.

In this sense the plaudits they received for their performance in defeat against France in the last game of the Six Nations may have been unhelpful.

That display has been framed since as the blueprint for the way England want to go, with regard to the speed at which they played at and their threat with the ball.

Scoring seven tries against the Six Nations champions was touted as a success. And it was. Up to a point. But they lost the match. Heroic defeat has its attractions, but it is still defeat.

Jones made a couple of interesting observations about England as a rugby nation at the weekend. He claimed that with the infrastructure and playing numbers they have, they should always be a top-three side in the world.

As an Australian coaching Japan, he can safely say that without accusations of English arrogance, but he is probably right. They should certainly be in the top four. South Africa, France and New Zealand have similar expectations.

Jones went on to point out that the fact that they aren’t – England are sixth in the world rankings at the moment – and the roof hasn’t fallen in implies an acceptance of mediocrity.

“To me, they’re always under-performing. But they seem happy enough with it,” he told The Sunday Times.

Jones, in his demanding way, took England to number one in the rankings during the 2019 World Cup before things turned sour for him.

Borthwick’s tenure, now approaching the four-year-mark, has had its highs. There was the 2023 World Cup bronze medal and the 12-game winning run that stretched through 2025.

However there have also been plenty of lows with historic first losses against Fiji and Italy and no Six Nations titles.

If a poll was conducted with England followers, it would be interesting to see where their expectations were at for this first wave of Nations Championship matches.

If they lose on Saturday that will be five defeats in a row for Borthwick’s men, six if the non-cap international against France a fortnight ago is taken into account. That should never happen to an England side.

After South Africa in Johannesburg, England face Fiji at Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium next weekend followed by Argentina in Santiago del Estero the weekend after.

What would be an acceptable outcome? Two wins? One win? Either way there is a near-universal resignation, even amongst England’s hard-core support, that defeat against South Africa is inevitable.

One man’s fatalism is another’s realism but the degree to which it filters through to the squad is important. If England, deep down, do not believe they can win in Johannesburg either, then they won’t.

If they lose on Saturday that will be five defeats in a row for Borthwick’s men, six if the non-cap international against France a fortnight ago is taken into account. That should never happen to an England side.

World champions or not in their own backyard, this weekend should be feet against the flames time for England. Not a free shot.