England head coach Eddie Jones will look back to the ‘Brighton Miracle’ as he prepares to come up with “something different” to defeat the Springboks at Twickenham on Saturday.
Jones was in charge of Japan when they claimed a stunning victory over the Springboks in a 2015 World Cup pool match in Brighton.
Japan utilised a style of fast-paced, ruck-and-run rugby that kept the Bok pack moving across the field and denied the South Africans the opportunity to exert their strengths at the set piece.
On Saturday, England will face the Springboks for the first time since the 2019 World Cup final and Jones is determined not to play into South Africa’s hands.
“It’s the final game and we want to go into the Six Nations with a South African scalp,” Jones said. “I worked with the Springboks for a year [in 2007] so I have a pretty reasonable understanding of what they try to do. That is one of the reasons we were successful with Japan, that we were able to take away a few things they are good at and expose them in a few areas.
“You have got to take away their scrum, take away their maul and successfully catch their high balls and not give them attacking opportunities.
“We were able to do that because we had four months to prepare for one game. With England, we will have to play differently to beat them because if you are taking on a heavyweight contest and you are fighting George Foreman, who can whack and whack, you have to do something different.
“We have got four days to come up with something different. And we will.”
England are assessing the injuries to captain Owen Farrell and hooker Jamie George after both left the field during the win over Australia.
Jones will be without prop Ellis Genge due to Covid-19 protocols, but Joe Marler could still come into the selection picture despite his Covid-19 isolation period only ending on Thursday.
“It is the final game of the autumn. We want to go away with a good feeling and so the guys can’t wait to get back into camp for the Six Nations,” Jones said.
“The way you finish is important. It’s like you go out on a date with a girlfriend – the night finishes well and you can’t wait for the next date. We want to make sure the players have that feeling.”
