It’s back to business on Monday for the Springboks and England as they prepare for the second Test in Pretoria this coming Saturday.
With the first Test behind them, both teams will be more settled and focused for their second encounter, which could be a whole new ball game.
Hopefully the England players will have shaken their stomach virus by then and may bring in some first-choice players. The Springbok side could also look different.
England coach Brian Ashton will hope that Jonny Wilkinson’s back spasm is not too serious. He was one of his side’s best performers on Saturday, especially in defence. He was injured in an attempt to stop Bok flanker Schalk Burger.
David Strettle, who was out due to the stomach virus, will probably be ready for Saturday, as will Andy Farrell and Peter Richards. This could give England a new look in their back line.
Springbok coach Jake White is likely to study two specific events during the Bloemfontein match — the two occasions on which England centre Mathew Tait broke the Springbok’s back line.
Both times Tait looked dangerous, going against the flow of the game. On both occasions, however, good sprints were muddled by bad handling.
The Springboks should take note of veteran coach Brian Ashton’s statement on Saturday that England will not spend too much time worrying about the Bloemfontein result.
The first twenty minutes of the first and second halves belonged to England and must have given the squad some confidence. England’s only try came in the 16th minute of the second half.
For the Springboks there were not too many injury worries as Bakkies Botha — whose brute force was surely missed in Bloemfontein in the second half — and BJ Botha were the only apparent injuries due to ”bumps and bruises”.
Jake White is not likely to change the Bloemfontein starting line-up too much, given his staying with tried and tested experience and looking for settled combinations.
He could, however, be looking at trying new combinations with Derick Hougard and Ruan Pienaar and possibly starting with Pierre Spies along with Schalk Burger and Juan Smit.
Given the practice of resting key players and the core of the Springbok Super 14 finalists, there is a possibility of one or two new faces appearing at Loftus Versveld on Saturday. — Sapa