England v Springboks: How Twickenham thriller unfolded

England and South Africa will look to complete a perfect tour series as they go head to head in their biggest match of their respective campaigns at Twickenham, London. Eddie Jones’ side will want revenge after the World Cup Final defeat and South Africa will want to wrap up their 2021 retaining the number one side in the world status. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 02:15 am (AEDT).

Jones has only made a couple of changes to the side that beat the Wallabies last week. Jamie Blamire – try scorer against Australia – will start against the Boks as Jamie George is out injured. In the backs Owen Farrell hasn’t recovered from his ankle injury and so Manu Tuilagi moves into the centre and Joe Marchant comes into the side on the wing – a selection that has surprised many as Marchant usually plays in the centres.

With Farrell out, Courtney Lawes will skipper the side and fans will get a chance to see Marcus Smith join forces with the powerful Tuilagi in an exciting fly half-centre combination.

South Africa have been in the press for all the wrong reasons this past week after a good win against Scotland. They were frustrated that none of their team had made the nominations for World Rugby Player of the year despite being ranked number one in the world, winning a series against the Lions and defeating the All Blacks in the Rugby Championship this year.

Then Director of Rugby Rassie Erasmus received a two month ban and has been barred from attending Test matches in an official role for 10 months earlier this week for his hour long video where he gave a scathing critique of Australian referee Nic Berry following his side’s loss to the British and Irish Lions in the first test of the series in July.

Despite these off field distractions, Jacques Nienaber will feel quietly confident as his side head to Twickenham. He’s made three changes to his side bringing back experienced fly half Handré Pollard to the line up with Cobus Reinach in at scrum half and Lood de Jager back in the second row.

Prediction
A replay of the 2019 World Cup Final is a great way for these sides to wrap up their 2021 years. It will be a brutal match up front and England will need to play a more expansive game and not get sucked into a kicking and forward battle with the Boks.

The Boks will have to quieten the 82,000 home crowd quickly but they’ve got the game style and talent to overcome England if they can execute well.

South Africa by 5.

Game information
Venue: Twickenham Stadium, London
Kick-off: 02:15 am (AEDT), Sunday 21st November 2021
Live stream: Stan Sport
Betting: England $2.02, South Africa $1.78 – odds via PlayUp
Referee: Andrew Brace

Teams
England
15. Freddie Steward, 14. Joe Marchant, 13. Henry Slade, 12. Manu Tuilagi, 11. Jonny May, 10. Marcus Smith, 9. Ben Youngs, 8. Tom Curry, 7. Sam Underhill, 6. Courtney Lawes (c), 5. Jonny Hill, 4. Maro Itoje, 3. Kyle Sinckler, 2. Jamie Blamire, 1. Bevan Rodd

Replacements
16. Nic Dolly, 17. Joe Marler, 18. Will Stuart, 19. Charlie Ewels, 20. Sam Simmonds, 21. Alex Dombrandt, 22. Raffi Quirke, 23. Max Malins

South Africa
15. Willie le Roux, 14. Jesse Kriel, 13. Lukhanyo Am, 12. Damian de Allende, 11. Makazole Mapimpi, 10. Handré Pollard, 9. Cobus Reinach, 8. Duane Vermeulen, 7. Kwagga Smith, 6. Siya Kolisi (c), 5. Lood de Jager, 4. Eben Etzebeth, 3. Trevor Nyakane, 2. Bongi Mbonambi, 1. Ox Nché

Replacements
16. Malcolm Marx, 17. Steven Kitshoff, 18. Vincent Koch, 19. Franco Mostert, 20. Jasper Wiese, 21. Herschel Jantjies, 22. Elton Jantjies, 23. Frans Steyn

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