England v South Africa Match Preview
Martin Corry claims England will “draw strength from adversity” when they go into battle as huge World Cup underdogs against South Africa on Friday night.
England’s preparations for their biggest Test match since the 2003 World Cup final have been decimated by injuries and suspension.
Fly-halves Jonny Wilkinson (ankle ligament sprain) and Olly Barkley (hip) are both sidelined, while skipper Phil Vickery starts a two-match ban following his citing for tripping United States centre Paul Emerick in last Saturday’s Pool A opener.
Leicester forward Corry takes over the leadership reins at Stade de France, while England head coach Brian Ashton says Mike Catt will start in the number 10 shirt, with ex-Great Britain rugby league captain Andy Farrell alongside him as first choice goalkicker.
Against such a backdrop, South Africa - even though banned flanker Schalk Burger is unavailable - start as red-hot favourites, but Corry believes England, whose last World Cup defeat came against the Springboks in Paris almost eight years ago, can defy the odds.
He said: “You want to draw strength from adversity, and we have had our share of adversity this week. It has drawn the squad closer together. We will take any motivation we can, and the ideal game for us is South Africa. Nine o’clock tomorrow night can’t come soon enough.
“We’ve had the rollickings after our performance against the USA last weekend, and we deserved them. We let our supporters, we let ourselves and we let the country down.”
To have any chance of stunning the Springboks - and taking pole position in their qualifying pool - England will need to dominate the physically-punishing breakdown area.
And with match citing commissioners having already made their mark on the tournament, it is also about keeping discipline in the heat of battle.
Corry added: “It (contact area) is a big area for controlled aggression. At times, there will be a bit of mayhem there. We want to be taking the physical edge right to the limit, but not beyond it. We have got to make sure we have 15 players on the field all the time.”
Ashton has confirmed that 35-year-old Bristol prop Darren Crompton is on temporary stand-by, should anything happen to England’s remaining available props - Andrew Sheridan, Matt Stevens and Perry Freshwater.
If any of that trio are injured between now and kick-off, then Crompton would go on to the replacements’ bench.
Butch James, meanwhile, claims World Cup revenge will not be on South Africa’s agenda when they tackle England at Stade de France on Friday.
The Springboks’ 2003 World Cup hopes were effectively derailed by England winning a crucial pool clash in Perth four years ago.
The roles have been reversed this time around though, with South Africa going into the Pool A encounter as firm favourites to send England packing.
But fly-half James said: “Not one thing has been mentioned about revenge. A lot of the guys here weren’t even there in 2003.”
South Africa will be without star flanker Schalk Burger for the game, although there was a degree of good news surrounding his future tournament participation after a four-match ban was reduced to two on appeal.
It means Burger will now be available to play in South Africa’s final pool game against the United States later this month, whereas his initial suspension would have sidelined until the semi-finals.
Wickus van Heerden takes Burger’s place in the starting line-up, with Francois Steyn replacing ruptured bicep victim Jean de Villiers, while prop BJ Botha is preferred to CJ van der Linde.
Botha said: “It was a shock to lose Schalk, but it is a World Cup, so things like that may happen. England will want to scrum and drive us in the lineouts, but we are prepared for that and we are looking forward to facing them on Friday.
“They are strong up front, (with) a strong lineout they form their game around, so we have to be prepared for that.”
South Africa have won their last three Tests against England, including a Twickenham triumph last December that cost Andy Robinson his job as red rose head coach.
They also recorded a points half-century in both Tests during the summer in Bloemfontein and Pretoria, although England were considerably under-strength on those occasions.
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