De Villiers: Useful reconnaissance
You want that mental edge, you want to go into a Lions series knowing you've beaten the individuals first.
Jean de Villiers
Quotes of the week
Centre Jean de Villiers believes victory over England will give South Africa the "mental edge" ahead of the British and Irish Lions tour.
The Springboks have already recorded narrow wins over Wales (20-15) and Scotland (14-10) and now turn their attentions to Twickenham before heading home.
The Boks have been followed around Britain by Lions coach Ian McGeechan - however de Villiers insists that the triple header against the home unions has given his side useful reconnaissance ahead of the summer tour.
"We always knew this whole tour would be important for our preparation for next year and so will this result," said de Villiers.
"We just want to improve on our two performances on this tour and end on a high.
"You want that mental edge, you want to go into a Lions series knowing you've beaten the individuals first."

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| Time | Fixture |
|---|---|
| Guinness Premiership | |
| Sunday 22nd November | |
| Guinness Premiership | |
| 15:00 | London Irish vs Newcastle |
| 15:00 | Leeds Carnegie vs Sale |
| 15:00 | Saracens vs Wasps |
| Friday 27th November | |
| 19:45 | Sale vs Wasps |
| 20:00 | Newcastle vs Northampton |
| 20:00 | Worcester vs Saracens |
| Saturday 28th November | |
| 15:00 | Harlequins vs Gloucester |
| 15:00 | Leicester vs Leeds Carnegie |
| 17:35 | Bath vs London Irish |
| Saturday 5th December | |
| 15:00 | London Irish vs Worcester |
| 15:00 | Gloucester vs Newcastle |
| 15:00 | Northampton vs Bath |
| 17:35 | Saracens vs Sale |
| Sunday 6th December | |
| 15:00 | Wasps vs Leicester |
| Saturday 26th December | |
| 14:15 | Bath vs Gloucester |
| 15:00 | Leicester vs Sale |
| 15:00 | Worcester vs Northampton |
| Sunday 27th December | |
| 15:00 | London Irish vs Saracens |
| 15:00 | Newcastle vs Leeds Carnegie |
| 16:00 | Harlequins vs Wasps |
| Friday 1st January | |
| 15:00 | Sale vs Harlequins |
| 15:00 | Saracens vs Leicester |
| Saturday 2nd January | |
| 15:00 | Northampton vs London Irish |
| 15:00 | Leeds Carnegie vs Bath |
| 15:00 | Gloucester vs Worcester |
| Result |
|---|
| Guinness Premiership |
| Saturday 21st November |
| Guinness Premiership |
| Northampton 26 - 17 Harlequins |
| Friday 20th November |
| Worcester 12 - 12 Bath |
| Gloucester 12 - 9 Leicester |
| Sunday 1st November |
| Newcastle 14 - 3 Worcester |
| Wasps 9 - 15 Leeds Carnegie |
| Saturday 31st October |
| Leicester 29 - 15 Northampton |
| Harlequins 9 - 9 London Irish |
| Bath 11 - 12 Saracens |
| Friday 30th October |
| Sale 28 - 23 Gloucester |
| Sunday 25th October |
| Saracens 21 - 15 Leeds Carnegie |
| Saturday 24th October |
| Gloucester 6 - 35 Wasps |
| London Irish 18 - 12 Leicester |
| Northampton 21 - 16 Sale |
| Worcester 22 - 26 Harlequins |
| Bath 16 - 27 Newcastle |
| Sunday 4th October |
| Leeds Carnegie 10 - 26 Gloucester |
| Wasps 20 - 15 Northampton |
| Newcastle 15 - 22 Saracens |
| Saturday 3rd October |
| Harlequins 13 - 11 Bath |
| Leicester 19 - 14 Worcester |
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Matt Giteau made no excuses after his poor kicking form sentenced Australia to their first defeat against Scotland in 27 years.
London Irish's title hopes were blown off course at the Madejski Stadium as they went down 15-11 to in-form Newcastle.
Sale Sharks overturned a 14-point second-half deficit to stop Leeds' resurgence in its tracks.
Suspended prop Matt Stevens has been told by Bath chief executive Nick Blofeld that the door is still open for his return.
Comments (1)
Cassiem Fakier says...
Saturday's game will be tough for both teams but class and experience will win the test and i think the boks has an abundance of both. England will give the boks a run for there money for the first 50min but the boks will eventually pull away. The only way england can beat the boks is if the boks incur major injuries to key players during the game... boks bench is not as strong as it always was.. i predict boks to win 55-12
Posted 10:53 19th November 2008