With the Indian Ocean sparkling in the sunshine outside their hotel, England’s first few days in South Africa have not been awash with stress. All that is about to change, with Eddie Jones preparing to name a starting lineup that will differ substantially from his side’s last Test outing against Ireland at Twickenham in March.
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Virtually every area of the team beaten 24-15 by the grand slam-winning Irish will have a refurbished look even if Wasps’ Joe Launchbury makes a miraculous recovery from a calf problem. With the 20-year-old Nick Isiekwe on the brink of a first international start and Alex Lozowski pushing hard for a midfield role, there could be as many as seven of Saracens’ domestic title-winners in the XV to face the Springboks in Johannesburg on Saturday.
England will be immensely grateful if the powerful Isiekwe, equally comfortable at lock or blindside flanker, reproduces his recent club form alongside the Vunipola brothers, Maro Itoje, Jamie George and the captain, Owen Farrell, all of whom were Test regulars for the British & Irish Lions in New Zealand last summer. Inviting Lozowski and Isiekwe to slot in alongside players with whom they are familiar has its obvious merits before a contest neither side can afford to start slowly.
Launchbury has yet to train fully with his team-mates this week and England’s only other specialist lock on this tour is the uncapped Exeter Chief Jonny Hill. Even minus their regular pairing of Eben Etzebeth and Lood de Jager, the Boks can still pick from Pieter-Steph du Toit, the Gloucester-bound Franco Mostert and the 6ft 8in RG Snyman, none of whom take a backward step.
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The hosts will also be a handful in the back row with the new captain, Siya Kolisi, the forceful Jean-Luc du Preez and Duane Vermeulen expected to comprise a similarly uncompromising loose trio. Bismarck du Plessis and François Steyn have both now been ruled out of the series through injury but, with Billy Vunipola still feeling his way back to full match fitness, England will still need all the willing alternative ball-carriers they can muster.
Given the tighthead Harry Williams has not started a game for club or country since the end of January, it would also be a surprise if Kyle Sinckler does not make the front row alongside Mako Vunipola and George, hoping to stake an unanswerable claim in the absence of Dylan Hartley. England’s lengthy casualty list has also shortened the odds on recalls for Mike Brown and George Ford, both of whom were dropped to the bench for the Ireland Six Nations game.
Brown could certainly do with a change of fortune in South Africa, having already endured two painful tours to the Republic. He was among the England players struck down by a stomach bug on the eve of his Test debut in Bloemfontein, which ended in a 58-10 defeat, and broke a thumb in the opening Test of the 2012 series in Durban.