The England wing Tommy Freeman has insisted that all-conquering South Africa are only human and vowed Steve Borthwick’s side will take the fight to the Springboks on Saturday.
After four straight defeats and six in seven against tier-one opposition, England face the daunting task of welcoming the back-to-back world champions to Twickenham. England’s last-gasp defeat by Australia saw Borthwick’s side slip to seventh in the world rankings while the Springboks returned to the summit after their 32-15 win over Scotland.
Borthwick is under increasing pressure after beginning the autumn campaign with two home defeats and Freeman has conceded that England will go into their first encounter with South Africa since last year’s World Cup semi-final exit as underdogs.
After a “difficult” review of the 42-37 loss to the Wallabies, however, Freeman is adamant England can cause an upset on Saturday. “The semi-final in the World Cup was a one-point game, they were definitely blown back by the way the lads took it to them,” said Freeman. “They are not unbeatable, they are still human, they are still rugby players, they are still playing the same game. We are going to deliver our game as best we can, make a few wrongs right from last weekend and we are going to go properly after them.
“We are not going in saying, ‘we are expecting them to beat us, we will give it a shot’ that has never crossed our mind. We are going in to deliver our gameplan and if we deliver it well enough we know we can beat any team. The Boks offer something very different. They’re a new challenge and they’re on top of the world at the moment. We may be considered underdogs but we’re going to take a big shot at them.”
Freeman has unhappy memories of facing the Springboks and was taken off at half-time during their last visit to Twickenham in 2022 – a match South Africa won 27-13 in what proved to be Eddie Jones’s last in charge. The 23-year-old Northampton winger did not appear again for England until this year’s Six Nations, having been overlooked by Borthwick for the World Cup squad.
“Obviously it wasn’t ideal being pulled off at half-time, that wasn’t the best feeling in the world,” he said. “This opportunity is one to put it right, that’s definitely in the back of my mind at the moment.
“That was my first game at Twickenham. It was my third cap. First one at Twickenham with your family and friends who didn’t manage to come out to Australia [for my debut] and they’re all sat there watching at Twickenham … yeah it is difficult. No one wants it to go that way. You hear stories beforehand of things like that happened, it’s something you never want to happen to you. It’s behind me now.”
If England are to overcome South Africa, they will have to tighten up defensively after missing a scarcely believable 36 tackles against Australia in what was only Joe El-Abd’s second match as defence coach since taking over from Felix Jones. “We’re not far off where we want to be,” said Freeman. “I’d say there’s a bit of tentativeness. You want to get off the line and there’s potentially that hesitation. I don’t think there’s too much we’re doing wrong; yes, we’re conceding, but a lot of that has come off of our transition. As soon as we can stop them transition attacking against us we’ll look strong from that.”
England’s task this weekend is made all the more difficult with injuries to Tom Curry and Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, who will both miss the visit of the Springboks. After scoring two tries from the bench against Australia, Ollie Sleightholme could make his first England start on Saturday.
“It was bittersweet,” Sleightholme said. “It’s a dream to play at Twickenham and score, but it’s a game we should’ve won. It’s frustrating as the opportunities were there. The result is the main thing, and that’s frustrating for everyone.”
