After a long season of ups and downs, Springbok prop Steven Kitshoff doesn’t doubt the importance of finishing on a high in Saturday’s Test match against England at Twickenham.

The Springboks will take on 2019 World Cup final opponents England at Twickenham, with the chance of completing a rare sweep of all three Tests of the overseas tour, after wins over Wales and Scotland.

The last meeting between the two teams at Twickenham went the way of the hosts in 2018, but the Boks still have a relatively good record against England, winning 14 of the last 18 clashes.

However, Kitshoff knows how difficult to beat Eddie Jones’ team will be on Saturday, despite them missing a couple of senior players.

“England is always a tough, physical game. They can kick or play with the ball in hand, and have a great set piece. We don’t really look at past results,” Kitshoff said.

“They have a very good contesting system. They have a good pack of forwards and a nice attacking brand with ball in hand. We know the challenges, but we also know their weaknesses.”

In a long Test season, the Springboks have claimed a 2-1 series victory over the British & Irish Lions, but then faltered against the Wallabies and New Zealand in Australia, before bouncing back with a Test win over the All Blacks, following it up with back-to-back victories on tour.

Kitshoff says there is still more than enough in the tank to give it one final go in what will be the Boks’ final Test of the year.

“We feel that it’s the most important game of the season,” he explained.

“It has been a tough, long year, but there is a lot of energy in the camp to get a good result. It is an important game for us to keep our No 1 spot in the world rankings until the international season starts again next year.

“This is a game of a lot of importance and it’s great just to go three on the trot.”