Key Changes for the second South Africa vs. England test in Johannesburg

Following last week’s exciting 22-17 test which went in the hosts’ favour, both teams have made changes in order to be more competitive and to cover injuries from a brutal encounter. Mike Brown and Brad Barritt are the two losses for England and South Africa, Zane Kirchner misses out with a knee injury with Pat Lambie replacing him at full back.

Harlequin’s Mike Brown was unfortunate to pick up an injury to his hand after a failed tackle attempt on Jean de Villiers. This has made Stuart Lancaster move Ben Foden back to his usual berth at full back and bring in David Strettle on the left wing. Strettle has been plagued by injuries in his international career to date, so he will be hoping for a strong showing against the Springboks. The Saracen speedster is consistently one of the best in the Aviva Premiership in terms of players beaten over a season. His agility and footwork when given time on the ball will give South Africa defensive problems.

Another major change follows Brad Barritt’s painful eye injury which required surgery last week. Barritt’s misfortune brings a fantastic opportunity for London Irish’s Jonathan Joseph, 21, to come in at outside centre.  The young Irish centre will make his first England start in a tough test which could decide the outcome of the series. Joseph has an unquestionable ability to pick running lines and take the ball on at pace. This was shown at the end of the first test in which he made a clear break and helped set the platform for Foden’s try in the final play of the game. Manu Tuilagi moves to inside centre, hopefully the Leicester Tiger will pass the ball wide so Joseph, Strettle and Chris Ashton get some time on the ball.

The final crucial change to the starting XV is at fly-half, Owen Farrell had an inconsistent 1^st test, he made several kicks at goal, but his passing and ability to unlock defences was not good enough for an international fly-half. The experienced Toby Flood returns to the starting No.10 jersey and will provide more stability at half-back. Flood will hopefully get the England back line running and his tactical kicking will have to be accurate against a dangerous South African back-three.

Lancaster has made a few changes on the bench, Paul Doran-Jones struggled when he came on at the end of the 1^st test and he is replaced by Alex Corbisiero, who has played more international rugby than the Northampton Saints prop. Farrell is dropped to the bench, but he will look to make a big impact if given the chance to come on at fly-half or centre. Finally, Alex Goode is given the chance to join the match day 22; he provides cover at full-back and fly-half.

Last week’s victors, South Africa make few changes with Pat Lambie coming in at full-back to replace the injured Zane Kirchner. Lambie performed well when he came on last Saturday. Lambie, the 21 year old Natal Shark offers South Africa an accurate and sizeable boot as a kicking option and is both a composed defender and dangerous counter-attacking full-back.

South Africa made changes on the bench to replace injured players.  Werner Kruger comes in to replace Coenie Oosthuizen who was ruled out of the 2^nd test with a neck injury. Also, Bjorn Basson comes in to take Lambie’s place on the bench.

The second test takes place at altitude, this will be a crucial factor, the Springboks will be used to playing in these conditions and their fitness will be tailored to this. Also, at altitude, the ball travels much further, this means that England can not afford to give away penalties from inside their own half as Morne and Frans Steyn will both be able to kick from range. England needs to be more disciplined and create more in attack. Also, in defence they need more bite than last week, Tom Johnson and Chris Robshaw did well, but the forwards need to give more and be even more aggressive in the contact zone. South Africa had less time to prepare for the 1^st test so will have been pleased with the result. It is hard to see them being troubled by England unless Lancaster’s side bring an expansive running game backed up by a big forwards’ performance. Prediction: South Africa by 10 points

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