England are weighing up whether to play George Ford and Owen Farrell alongside each other against South Africa on Saturday as they look to recover from their 24-21 defeat to New Zealand. An enforced midfield change may be needed either way, with Kyle Eastmond having picked up a stomach bug.
Stuart Lancaster is awaiting an update on Eastmond’s health before he makes a final call. “I’m sure he’ll get over the sickness and diarrhoea but it’s about how much it takes out of him and the knock-on effect of not doing the work,” the England coach said. “The obvious options are to put George in at 10 and Owen at 12, or bring someone like Billy Twelvetrees in at 12.
“We have to be careful not to make too many changes. We have to give the players a second chance but, having said that, one of the reasons we brought George Ford and Ben Youngs on [against the All Blacks] was to improve our ability to exit our own half. Some of our kicking from 9 and 10 wasn’t quite good enough. The combination [of Ford and Farrell] is something we have looked at.”
Anger
Joe Marler has urged England to use the anger caused by Saturday’s collapse to New Zealand to fuel their backlash against South Africa.
The 2015 World Cup hosts took a deserved 14-11 lead into the interval only to be comprehensively outplayed in a second half affected by monsoon-like conditions, as the All Blacks ran out 24-21 winners.
Marler was scathing of a performance that resulted in a fifth successive defeat to the All Blacks and has demanded an emphatic response.
“Our levels of frustration are high and the game review was very honest. I can’t really use the words that I’d like to use!” the Harlequins captain said.
“We knew what we had to do in that second half. We spoke about it at half time. And then we came out and did the opposite. Now we expect a reaction from ourselves.
“We’ll take the frustration into this weekend. From a personal point of view it’s important to use that frustration to spur you on that little bit more.”
England have not beaten South Africa in 11 matches dating back to 2006 with their best performance a 14-14 draw in Port Elizabeth two years ago.
Marler made the first of his 23 Test appearances against the Springboks and they left a lasting impression, but the loosehead refuses to be cowed by them or any of the southern hemisphere heavyweights.
Baptism of fire
“The 2012 tour was a baptism of fire for some of us. Physicality is part and parcel of their culture,” Marler said.“It’s about having the belief that we’re not just capable of hanging in there, but can ramp it up ourselves at the right time and take them to some darker places.”
Lancaster insists confidence remains intact despite a run of four consecutive losses, albeit each of them to Richie McCaw’s reigning world champions.
Only 11 Tests remain for England to discover the winning formula to toppling the sport's superpowers before the World Cup. So far that has proved elusive with Lancaster's record against New Zealand, South Africa and Australia numbering just two wins in 12 Tests with the setback against the All Blacks pointing to a lack of progress. Guardian Service
