The World Champions, South Africa, will target a perfect performance on Saturday night when they face England in London.

It will be the Springboks’ second Test of their End-of-Year tour and this will be their biggest challenge. The Springboks picked their strongest available squad for the game after making 12 changes to the team which beat Scotland 32-15 on Sunday in Edinburgh.

What will make it enough tougher for the Springboks is the fact that England has lost their last four Tests, and in the week their captain Jamie George said facing the Springboks is the perfect Test for them to return to winning ways, and rise from their eighth ranking in the world.

The Boks have already beaten the All Blacks, Wallabies, Pumas, Ireland, Wales, Portugal, and Scotland this year, and they would love to add an English scalp as they target an unbeaten tour.

While South Africa are confident in their preparation, process, and game, they are mindful that Twickenham is a fortress for the English and they will do anything to defend themselves.

The Springbok assistant coach, Mzwandile Stick, said the recent defeats by England to New Zealand and Australia certainly does not take away from the quality of the home team.

‘If we are not at our best, they can beat us’

“Losing two matches right at the end of the game doesn’t make them a bad team,” said Stick.

“In the World Cup semi-final, many people didn’t give them a chance against us, and they caught people by surprise with the way they played in that match.

“When we say they are desperate, it certainly isn’t negative, we mean they will have more motivation. They’ve named a quality team, and they have a strong kicking game, so if we are not at our best, they can beat us.

Cheslin Kolbe and Freddie Stewart. Photo: World Rugby

“They’re playing at Twickenham in front of 85,000 fans, so we cannot afford to be less than our best because we know it’s going to take an 80-minute effort, so we cannot switch off.”

Saturday’s Test between the Roses and Springboks at Twickenham kicks off at 19:40.

England – 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Henry Slade, 11 Ollie Sleightholme, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Jack van Poortvliet, 8 Ben Earl, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Chandler Cunningham-South, 5 George Martin, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Will Stuart, 2 Jamie George (captain), 1 Ellis Genge

Replacements – 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Fin Baxter, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Nick Isiekwe, 20 Alex Dombrandt, 21 Harry Randall, 22 George Ford, 23 Tom Roebuck

Springboks – 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 12 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 RG Snyman, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nche

Replacements – 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Elrigh Louw, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Cobus Reinach, 22 Handré Pollard, 23 Lukhanyo Am

OFM Sport/Morgan Piek mvh