Eddie Jones’s predecessor as national head coach, Stuart Lancaster, has warned the England players and management to brace themselves for a challenging tour of South Africa and expects them to be under intense pressure from the moment the three‑Test series kicks off in Johannesburg on Saturday.
Lancaster was in charge of the previous England touring side to South Africa in 2012, when the Springboks won the opening two Tests before drawing the third. Six years later he believes the home team are on the rise and will grow stronger under the command of the former Munster head coach Rassie Erasmus.
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“I think it’s a tough tour this year,” said Lancaster, one of the key architects of Leinster’s historic European and Pro14 double success last season.
“Rassie Erasmus, who I’ve coached against at Munster, will do a great job in galvanising the South Africans. And the person people haven’t talked about much is Jacques Nienaber, who was the defence coach at Munster. He’s a very good defence coach. If you get those South Africans organised defensively, irrespective of their attack, then it’s a tough series.”
Lancaster said he can still “vividly” remember the first quarter of England’s previous visit to Ellis Park six years ago, when the Springboks made such a storming start to the second Test that they were 22-3 ahead with an hour of the game still left. “After about 20 minutes this wave of green shirts was crashing over us,” Lancaster recalled. “You’re thinking: ‘Oh my God, this could be 40 or 50.’
“Relentless power, a very intimidating stadium … I was very proud of the boys, the way they dug in. I remember [the lock] Geoff Parling at half-time really getting stuck into the boys. We came out in the second half and narrowed the gap and then we drew the third Test.”
South Africa’s rugby fortunes have subsequently declined with numerous top players opting to sign with overseas clubs, but Erasmus has included Wasps’ Willie le Roux, Sale’s Faf de Klerk, Duane Vermuelen of Toulon and the Montpellier duo Frans Steyn and Bismarck du Plessis in his squad for the England games.
Lancaster still thinks that Jones’s side have the potential to win the series – “I wouldn’t read too much into the Six Nations, it came down to small margins in the end” – but suspects the home side will be sharply improved.
“I watched South Africa play here in November and Ireland beat them 38-3. What has changed is that Rassie will bring back some players from overseas. If you put the best SA team together it’s a formidable team, and then you layer on their sense of pride in the shirt.”
Jamie George, meanwhile, has admitted Dylan Hartley will be missed in the South Africa series as he prepares for a first extended run in the No 2 jersey. George has started in only two of his 25 England appearances but is in line for another three against the Springboks with Hartley, whose first game as the national captain was that 2012 draw in Port Elizabeth, missing out on the tour due to concussion.
“I have to try and drive the standards within the team because Dylan was brilliant at that and we are definitely missing that side of things,” George said. “Filling those shoes will be difficult, but also something I relish. But I also want to make sure I put my own spin on it.”
George also expects his close friend and Saracens team-mate Owen Farrell to flourish as Hartley’s replacement as captain. “What I have learnt with him is that the more responsibility he gets, the better he gets as a player and as a leader,” he said. “He relishes the challenge and he is a brilliant captain. At 19-20 he was hot-headed but he has learnt that isn’t the way all the time.”