Teams
SA 'A': 15 Leolin Zas, 14 Travis Ismaiel, 13 Francois Venter, 12 Howard Mnisi, 11 Courtnall Skosan, 10 Garth April, 9 Nic Groom, 8 Nizaam Carr, 7 Oupa Mohoje (captain), 6 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 5 Stephan Lewies, 4 JD Schickerling, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Scarra Ntubeni, 1 Thomas du Toit
Substitutes: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Lizo Gqoboka, 18 Coenie Oosthuizen, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Jean-Luc du Preez, 21 Piet van Zyl, 22 Francois Brummer, 23 Lukhanyo Am
England Saxons: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Alex Lewington, 13 Nick Tompkins, 12 Ollie Devoto, 11 Semesa Rokoduguni, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Dan Robson, 8 Sam Jones, 7 Matt Kvesic, 6 Don Armand, 5 Charlie Ewels, 4 Dave Attwood (c), 3 Kieran Brookes, 2 Tommy Taylor, 1 Alec Hepburn
Substitutes: 16 George McGuigan, 17 Ross Harrison, 18 Jake Cooper-Woolley, 19 Mitch Lees, 20 Dave Ewers, 21 Micky Young, 22 Sam James, 23 Christian Wade
The only thing better than rugby is more rugby and thanks to this additional tour, we can get started on that before Saturday even comes. Its partially for that reason I've been excited for this tour ever since it was rumoured, but also because I believe this is potentially a really good thing for English rugby. The usefulness of A tours is much debated but the reality is no one knows, because nothing like this has been seen in a long time. The Churchill Cup was fun, but as testing as two games against a genuinely strong South African team it isn't.
Everyone knows what to expect from South African rugby: Brute Power. If they can't run over you, they'll try again. Their centres think they're flankers, their flankers think they're props, and their props are only hypothetically related to the rest of humanity. The most scary thing on a Bok team is a short guy, because you know he's only there because they think he'll win single handed. Okay, that was a little hyperbolic, but not by much. That is the South African ideal.
Its true of starting loosehead Thomas Du Toit - a much vaunted 21 year old who just happens to be 130kg. From there, things aren't quite as usual in this starting South Africa line-up. Vincent Koch is a fairly ordinary type while hooker Scarra Ntubeni is probably best compared to Tom Youngs, only with worse throwing. Schikerling and Lewies are both beanpoles, so maybe they'll dig Ntubeni out of a hole, or maybe the'll not be able to and not provide enough bulk to the scrum either. The back row is quick, talented, and not that big either. Mohoje has looked decent for the Boks and will be doing most of the heavy duty carrying, with Carr being more of an openside as far as I was ever aware. There's a lot of excitement about today's openside Notshe, who's viewed as a definite future Bok, and there's been plenty of talk about his pace from South African fans.
Excitement is not a word associated with scrum-half Nic Groom. I honestly didn't find a single glowing word about him anywhere. Garth April is relatively inexperienced for his age, having taken the long route to where he is, but is meant to be a big talent in the making. He's got a lot of quality to work with him outside him. None of them are super big but there is plenty of pace with Skosan and Zas (and presumably Ismaiel, but no one's talking about him). Mnisi is meant to be good going forwards but not so hot when targeted himself, which will put pressure on Venter to be the defensive marshal.
The bench features a lot of the players that South African fans have been talking up. Malcolm Marx is referred to as Bismarck Du Plessis mk 2, back row Du Preez picked up a big reputation in the last JWC and Snyman is another protoypical 6'9" 18 stone plus lock. There's no doubt there's some real firepower waiting to be unleashed (although Oosthuizen doesn't have the strongest scrummaging reputation) but the question is will there be a match by the time it comes onto the pitch?
The answer is probably. This isn't the strongest Saxons team most people thought could have been picked either although that's not the case with the front row. Former Wasps academy man Alec Hepburn has been building a decent reputation with Exeter this season while the naturally massive Kieran Brookes will be looking to re-ignite the career that's already seen him pick up 16 England caps by the age of 25. The real man of interest though is Tommy Taylor, the Sale hooker who'll move to Wasps this summer. A former openside, he's shown a big engine and work rate this season in addition to an unusually solid set-piece game for a late convert.
Captain Dave Attwood needs no introduction but his partner Charlie Ewels, last year's U20 captain, will be less familiar. He's a rangy athletic type who was first introduced to senior rugby by having to fill in at 8 for Bath. Against Toulouse. He managed that with aplomb and while the state of England's second row depth is very much a discouraging one for any young lock, he does have the potential to become part of the conversation.
Moving back, Don Armand has been reliably abrasive and useful for Exeter all season in the absence of Ewers, while Sam Jones of Wasps wears the 8 shirt. Jones is perhaps the prototypical English back row; skilled and big enough to have a go at every back row position and make big contributions, but not skilled and big enough to be a specialist. Neither seems likely to move further in the England set-up, but you never know. The question of Matt Kvesic and the England set-up, on the other hand, has been done to death. The common suspicion is that he's held to be too light weight; hopefully he can shift that this tour. He may not carry like Clifford and Harrison, but one can't shake the possibility he's still a better rugby player than either of those in Australia and should be there.
Dan Robson is another player widely considered to be unlucky in Australia, given there's only two scrum-halves out there and neither has ever looked the complete deal. Whether Robson would is a very open question but if he continues how he played this season - sharp and accurate - the chance should come. With him is the likewise unlucky Danny Cipriani and Wasps fans will probably be salivating at getting a first look at their half-back pairing for next season. Everyone knows what Cipriani can do and the last two years have seen far more consistency, toughness and not being a prick from him. What Jones wants from him (other than a higher goal kicking percentage) is unknown, but this is a prime opportunity to start doing it.
The presence of Devoto is no surprise - clearly his Billy Twelvetrees mk 2 act has a fan in Jones. More surprising is Nick Tompkins, the highly rated young Saracens centre. He's a tidy useful player, but its difficult to see any potentially world class elements to his game and probably the fourth of the four centres in the squad. On the wings are Semesa Rokoduguni - to rehash myself, unlucky to be the one man losing out to a less more powerful athlete than himself - and Alex Lewington, whose better than 1 in 3 try scoring rate for the struggling London Irish will surely earn him a move straight back to the Premiership. There can be no complaints about the finishing that provides, even allowing for the obvious point of contention which will be addressed later. Sale's Mike Haley completes the team. The little I've seen of him suggests a very complete full-back and in a world where the declining Mike Brown duels for a spot with a probably never-will-be Alex Goode, Haley is possibly the man with the best opportunity in the squad to advance very quickly.
The bench features a lot of uncompromising physicality. Falcons hooker McGuigan has been signed by Tigers in no small part on the back of his ability to win collisions. Ross Harrison is a big promising loosehead; Jake Cooper-Woolley is an even bigger promise fulfilling tighthead. Mitch Lees is a squat block of an uncompromising lock and nobody needs me to tell them that Dave Ewers is a very big human being who trades on being very, very strong.
The backs part of the bench features Micky Young as scrum-half cover; not everyone's choice, or anyone's apart from the coaches really. Covering the centres - with Devoto likely to cover fly-half - is Sam James, who's enjoyed a breakout season for Sale in which he looked better at playing like Devoto than Devoto did. A natural 13 these days, James is a lanky powerful ex-youth fly-half in the mould that seems very popular these days in English rugby (tune in to the U20s for the Harry Mallinder show) and could have made an interestingly unpredictable pairing with Devoto.
And then there's Christian Wade.
To call Wade a favourite son of English rugby fans verges on understatement. Who doesn't love the closest thing to a Shane Williams clone you'll ever see? Well, maybe the answer is Eddie Jones. Maybe the oft-cited doubts about his defence are true as far as the England management is concerned. Then again, they could have easily waved him off to Sevens. And maybe he gets the next game. This is a situation where judgement would be wiser after the facts are presented but people want to see Wade tried and it is frustrating that he is not. Here's hoping he gets a big chance this game.
Reading this back, it feels like England have a decent chance of getting an edge in the set-piece and breakdown battles, thanks largely to Attwood's bulk, Kvesic's guile, and the possibility of dodgy hooking. If that's happens, victory usually follows, and there's enough attacking quality in the backs to make it big. If nothing bad happens to South Africa up front however, then it sounds like they've got plenty of pace and loose ball runners if they can get it out there. That would seem to indicate an England victory most times, albeit without factoring in home advantage, but there can be no certainty to such a prediction. That is the glory of A team rugby.
Right - lets get this weekend underway.
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