The England manager, Martin Johnson, has given his players a vote of confidence after their defeat to Australia by making only one change to the team that will host South Africa on Saturday. The Wasps flanker James Haskell is the lone newcomer, replacing Tom Croft at No6, while the uncapped Leicester No8 Jordan Crane takes Michael Lipman's spot on the bench.
It had been thought that Johnson would shake his inexperienced side up after they fell 28-14 to the Wallabies at Twickenham, particularly the pack which struggled unexpectedly in the scrum. Dylan Hartley had been touted for a starting place at hooker, but Lee Mears retains the No2 shirt thanks to his more reliable lineout throw. Andrew Sheridan, one of only four players remaining from the England team that lost to South Africa in last year's World Cup final, has been passed fit despite suffering a neck injury against Australia.
Haskell's return certainly makes sense after the positive impression he made when he came off the bench against Australia, and his physical presence will be required against Schalk Burger on Saturday. Croft will start on the bench, where he will be joined by three of his Leicester team-mates. "It's great we can choose between two very young and exciting players in James and Tom," said Johnson, who defended making only one change. "We want to get some consistency in the team. They are aware of the mistakes we made, but they have the opportunity to correct them.
"The defeat rankles. We are still growing into the way we are playing. It only takes a momentary lapse, a few guys going off script in the heat of battle, for things to break down in that area. We gave away eight kickable penalties. We need to cut out mistakes, cut out penalties and put ourselves in a position in the last 20 minutes to win the game. The great thing from our point of view is that there are lots of opportunities out there - we just have to see them and exploit them. We will see a different game this week and a better scrummaging contest."
Danny Cipriani maintains his position at fly-half, holding off the claim of Toby Flood. Cipriani was heavily criticised for his kicking and his perceived lack of leadership during Saturday's match, but the man he replaced as England No10, Jonny Wilkinson, today defended him. "Danny is showing the kind of authority it took me a long, long time to gain," Wilkinson said. "When I was first in the England camp with him, before the World Cup last year, and then again during the Six Nations this year, he displayed a very strong understanding of how he sees the game and what he wanted to do. He was very self-assured.
"I know that there is a perception that Danny might not have had the greatest of games at Twickenham, but I had immediate empathy with pretty much every decision he made. The fact that some of them didn't come off is not important, they were still the right decisions. Likewise I don't think it matters that a couple of kicks didn't go over because I know the next day they will go straight through the middle."
Earlier South Africa delayed their team announcement until Thursday because of injuries. Their coach, Peter de Villiers, had been due to finalise his squad this morning but has not had "sufficient time to assess the injury situation and confirm the availability of players". Hooker Bismarck du Plessis and prop Gurthro Steenkamp are both definitely out of the match at Twickenham with hamstring and ankle injuries respectively, while scrum-half Fourie du Preez is a doubt after withdrawing from the 14-10 victory over Scotland with a thigh strain. Prop Brian Mujati and wing Bryan Habana are also doubts, so Jannie du Plessis has joined the squad in London.
Despite the problems in the Springboks' camp, Johnson insisted they would be extremely motivated for playing England. "I think they will definitely be up for it. They won't have any problems with that," he said. "They will want to finish the season off on a high and beat us at Twickenham. It's a big thing for opposition teams to come here and win, as you saw with the Australians' reaction when they won on here on Saturday. They play with huge intensity, passion and physicality."
England team to play South Africa at Twickenham on Saturday
D Armitage (London Irish); P Sackey (Wasps), J Noon (Newcastle), R Flutey (Wasps), U Monye (Harlequins); D Cipriani (Wasps), D Care (Harlequins); A Sheridan (Sale Sharks), L Mears (Bath), P Vickery (Wasps), S Borthwick (Saracens, capt), T Palmer (Wasps), J Haskell (Wasps), T Rees (Wasps), N Easter (Harlequins).
Replacements: D Hartley (Northampton), M Stevens (Bath), S Shaw (Wasps), T Croft (Leicester), J Crane (Leicester), H Ellis (Leicester), T Flood (Leicester).
