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Good morning and welcome to The Roar’s live coverage of this match from Twickenham in London with England hosting South Africa. You can follow the live scores and commentary right here.
Both teams suffered losses last weekend and will be looking to make amends this morning.
England suffered a three-point loss to the All Blacks at home last weekend in a disappointing performance according to their coach Stuart Lancaster. However, he has shown faith in his charges from last weekend to get England’s November internationals back on track with only the one injury-forced change, with winger Semesa Rokoduguni being replaced by Marlan Yarde.
England have not had much fortune against the Springboks in recent times, a 14-all draw in Port Elizabeth in 2012 the only recent highlight. 2006 was the last year England claimed a win against South Africa.
With England hosting the World Cup next year they will not want to drop another match against another southern hemisphere giant and after South Africa’s performance against Ireland they will fancy their chances.
South Africa enters this match after being well beaten by a very good Irish side in Dublin last weekend. The Springboks were one dimensional and lethargic and the South African media and fans have been scathing of the team’s performance. Coach Heyneke Meyer has reacted and made several changes to his match day 23.
The most notable being the promotion of Pat Lambie and Cobus Reinach to the starting team with Handre Pollard and Francois Hougaard dropping to the bench. Many South African commentators and fans have been calling for the introduction of this halves pairing for some time, and they will be scrutinised closely.
Meyer has also opted for more experience in his starting team with Schalk Burger and JP Pietersen reintroduced to the starting team which should add some starch to the Springbok back row and a more defensively sound back three, with Teboho Mahoje and Cornal Hendricks relegated to the bench.
Adrian Strauss swaps with Bismarck du Plessis at hooker in the only other change to the starting team.
South Africa will be highly motivated to turn around their poor performance from last weekend against the 2015 World Cup hosts and I am picking this will be a brutal, fast match as both teams look to secure victory.
Join us as we cover all of the action live and remember to post your comments below as the drama unfolds.
Tip – Springboks by 6
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.