Sam Simmonds says England ‘are ready’ for physical battle with Springboks | ‘We have to front up’ | Rugby Union News

England host South Africa at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday in the last of their Autumn Nations Series fixtures; Eddie Jones’ men arrive off the back of a comeback 25-25 draw against New Zealand having been 25-6 down

Sam Simmonds believes England have to front up physically if they are going to get the win over a strong South Africa side on Saturday at Twickenham Stadium.

England go into the Test having recovered from 25-6 down to draw 25-25 with the All Blacks as a result of three dramatic late tries and back row Simmonds is ready to show that England have the physicality and power to shut down the Springboks.

“It is huge. It is different than playing the All Blacks,” said Simmonds.

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England head coach Eddie Jones praised his side’s fighting spirit as they clawed back from 25-6 down to grab a dramatic 25-25 draw against New Zealand at Twickenham.

“Their power game, their physicality is what it is all about.

“It is going to be a huge set piece, huge maul, huge scrum and I think when we played them last year in the Autumn, that was an area we focused on again.

“You can take the game away from them if you get those things right so that is what we will be focusing on this weekend.”

Although the Springboks are a strong force, Simmonds thinks England have an extra level to their opposition when it comes to the attacking prowess of the back line.

“You are going to have to take them on physically, you are going to have to front up in the scrum, you have to front up in the maul and both sides of the ball,” he added.

“But then, it is about having a point of difference to try and potentially move the forwards around a bit and attack them where their perceived strengths are and turn them into weaknesses.

“We know that they are very hard off the line defensively which might leave space in other areas.

“First and foremost, it is a power game and it is about how physical we can be but there is definitely opportunities for us when we get our hands on the ball.”

Nienaber: Erasmus ban will not affect us

South Africa head coach Jacques Nienaber insists Rassie Erasmus’s latest ban will not affect Saturday’s game against England and that “all the facts” have not been made public.

Director of rugby Erasmus has been given a two-game matchday ban by World Rugby in response to a series of social media posts.

The sanction, which prevented Erasmus from taking part in the win over Italy and this weekend’s clash with England, includes engagement with media and social media in relation to match officials and comes a year after he missed the defeat at Twickenham for similar reasons.

World Rugby acted after Erasmus published a series of sarcastic tweets during the Autumn Nations Series, airing his grievances over officiating on social media rather than through the established channels.

Asked if the ban had affected the Springboks’ mood or preparations for the England game, Nienaber said his side remained focused on the rugby.

“We’re a tight-knit unit and team, everyone knows what’s going on, we’re open and transparent to everybody,” Nienaber said.

“Sometimes it’s, I don’t want to say disappointing, what would the right word be?

“Maybe disappointing is the right word, when there’s only certain facts that go out and then people from the outside, who only have those facts available, form an opinion and give an opinion on something that happened and obviously they don’t know all the facts.

“It is quite sad if you think about it. I think if all the facts are out there that people will probably form a different opinion.

“I’m not pointing figures at anybody, I don’t want to get involved in this, but for us as a group we know about everything, we’re transparent, we share everything with the players and we know all the facts and unfortunately things went that way, but for us the main thing is to focus on rugby and make sure we prepare our players mentally to be ready for a big test against England on Saturday.”

Pressed on what facts were missing, Nienaber added: “I think it probably will come out.

“There’s a lot of confidentiality that we’re not allowed to talk about with media. It’s stuff we can’t discuss but we know the facts, we share with the players and everyone within the group.

“We can’t control narratives of other people’s opinion about us. Whatever people think about us, they think about us but we know what happens inside and how we are.”