Springboks v England | The Forward Battle

All the pregame talk was around the size and bulk that Borthwick picked in his pack, what the perceived plan would be and how they were going to go head to head with the formidable Springbok side. There were three areas this failed in, the bruisers that were selected did not have the impact they were intended for, England did miss Itoje which was amplified by the Springboks having an out and out fetcher and lastly, the Springboks played with a pace England were not ready for and the game went a full quarter before the first scrum.

The Springboks handed a debut to Stormer, Paul de Villiers, and he came out with with no nerves and played like it was any other game in the URC while getting a late call up into a Springbok starting role. The Springboks losing Etzebeth and Kolisi before forcing du Toit into the lock, Hanekom onto an unfavoured blind side flank position and a hybrid flank/lock covering lock on the bench in Dixon. This worked out well in the favor of the South Africans and shows the layers and depth the Springbok coaching staff prepare for.

Despite losing 244 caps and trading them for a player with one appearance and another on debut and struggling with lock injuries the Springboks held out with their scrum dominance and gainline dominance despite struggling at line out time.

Back to the drawing board for Steve Borthwick as they clean up the current plan or clean the planning board and rejig and plan of attack moving forward