England v S Africa: Teams
England manager Martin Johnson is relishing a "big, big game" against South Africa on Saturday.
Last Updated: 27/11/10 5:25pm
England manager Martin Johnson is relishing a "big, big game" against South Africa on Saturday.
England complete their Investec Internationals against a Springbok side wounded by a shock loss to Scotland last time out.
And Johnson is expecting a full-bloodied encounter at Twickenham as the world champions look to bounce back from that 21-17 defeat.
"It is going to be a big, big game," said Johnson.
"It is a cracking game to be involved in whenever you play South Africa and you always know what you are going to get in terms of intensity.
"We know we will have to play at a very high level to win. It will be physical, intense and a great Test match. Everyone is looking forward to a full-blooded match at Twickenham."
Johnson has named his strongest XV for the clash, with Mike Tindall, Tom Croft, Dan Cole and skipper Lewis Moody restored to the line-up.
Matt Banahan, Hendre Fourie and David Wilson drop to the bench, with James Haskell missing out completely.
South Africa coach Peter de Villiers has resisted the urge to make wholesale changes following the loss to Scotland.
Instead just scrum-half Ruan Pienaar and No.8 Pierre Spies come into the side and de Villiers is confident his side has learned from the defeat Murrayfield.
De Villiers said. "There is no panic. This team has all the ability we need - but what we all know is that we have to execute more accurately than we did against Scotland.
"That game is behind us now but we've looked hard at the lessons of it and know that we can't allow ourselves to make as many mistakes in our basic execution.
"Saturday's performance wasn't a true reflection of the talent in this squad and the players want to put that right and end the Test season on a high."
England: 15 Ben Foden, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Mike Tindall, 12 Shontayne Hape, 11 Mark Cueto, 10 Toby Flood, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Nick Easter, 7 Lewis Moody (c), 6 Tom Croft, 5 Tom Palmer, 4 Courtney Lawes, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Andrew Sheridan.
Replacements: 16 Steve Thompson, 17 David Wilson, 18 Simon Shaw, 19 Hendre Fourie, 20 Danny Care, 21 Charlie Hodgson, 22 Matt Banahan.
South Africa: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Gio Aplon, 13 Frans Steyn, 12 Jean De Villiers, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Morne Steyn, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Victor Matfield (capt), 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 CJ Van der Linde, 18 Flip van der Merwe, 19 Willem Alberts, 20 Francois Hougaard, 21 Patrick Lambie, 22 Adi Jacobs.