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."

England 9-18 Australia - Highlights
Harlequins 15-15 Llanelli - Davies
Harlequins 15-15 Llanelli - Robshaw
Harlequins 15-15 Llanelli - Owens
England 9-18 Australia - Wilkinson & Moody
England 9-18 Australia - Johnson
England 9-18 Australia - Giteau
England 9-18 Australia - Genia & Ashley-Cooper
| Time | Fixture |
|---|---|
| Guinness Premiership | |
| Friday 20th November | |
| Guinness Premiership | |
| 19:45 | Gloucester vs Leicester |
| 20:00 | Worcester vs Bath |
| Saturday 21st November | |
| 13:00 | Northampton vs Harlequins |
| Sunday 22nd November | |
| 15:00 | London Irish vs Newcastle |
| 15:00 | Saracens vs Wasps |
| 15:00 | Leeds Carnegie vs Sale |
| 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 | Worcester vs Saracens |
| 15:00 | Leicester vs Leeds Carnegie |
| 17:35 | Bath vs London Irish |
| Saturday 5th December | |
| 15:00 | London Irish vs Worcester |
| 15:00 | Northampton vs Bath |
| 15:00 | Gloucester vs Newcastle |
| 17:35 | Saracens vs Sale |
| Sunday 6th December | |
| 15:00 | Wasps vs Leicester |
| 15:00 | Leeds Carnegie vs Harlequins |
| 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 |
| Result |
|---|
| Guinness Premiership |
| Sunday 1st November |
| Guinness Premiership |
| 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 |
| Friday 2nd October |
| Sale 8 - 11 London Irish |
| Sunday 27th September |
| Saracens 19 - 16 Gloucester |
| London Irish 28 - 16 Wasps |
| Saturday 26th September |
| Bath 20 - 20 Leicester |
| Worcester 24 - 18 Sale |
| Northampton 30 - 10 Leeds Carnegie |
| Friday 25th September |
| Newcastle 17 - 17 Harlequins |
| Sunday 20th September |
| Wasps 23 - 3 Worcester |
Jonny Wilkinson told The Rugby Club he hopes to play with new-found freedom against Australia on Saturday.
Aussie Matt Giteau tells Rugby Club that he is keen to avoid a repeat of his first Twickenham outing.
Back Nikolai Valuev, Didier Drogba and Jonny Wilkinson this weekend, says Ed Chamberlin.
France have named a heavy back row in a bid to counter the might of the South Africa ahead of the Test match in Toulouse on Friday night.
Dan Carter's disciplinary hearing has been put back to Tuesday at the request of the New Zealand team management.
Cardiff Blues won their LV= Cup clash against Gloucester thanks to a last-gasp penalty from Ceri Sweeney at Kingsholm.
Harlequins and Scarlets shared the spoils following a tremendous battle in their LV= clash at the Twickenham Stoop.
Wasps withstood some late pressure to earn a hard-fought 24-20 LV= Cup triumph over London Irish.
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