England vs South Africa Preview: Team News & Prediction | 2024 Autumn Internationals

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Almost a year to the day, England seek revenge over the side that knocked them out of the World Cup semi-finals by the slimmest of margins.

Start date/time: Saturday 16th November, 2024, UK – 5:40pm / US ET – 12:40pm / US PT – 9:40am

How to watch on tv: UK – TNT Sport / US – Peacock

How to watch online: UK – discovery+ / US – Peacock

England Form: Another narrow defeat

England’s unwanted knack for ending up on the losing side of closely-fought games reared its head again last week when they lost 42-37 to Australia in a high-scoring match, and that is now four straight losses for Stuart Borthwick’s men heading into this clash with the reigning world champions.

That followed three close defeats to the All Blacks, the most recent of those coming at the start of this month, so they need to turn the tide here against a Springboks side who beat them in the World Cup semi-finals almost a year ago by just a single point.

LAST FIVE: WLLLL

South Africa form: The team to beat

Although they were 32-15 winners against Scotland at Murrayfield last week, the scoreline perhaps didn’t tell the full story as South Africa were largely sloppy in that match and were not punished by their opponents.

Having said, South Africa – runaway Rugby Championship winners recently – are the best in the world at winning when they are not firing on all cylinders, and are likely to improve in any case here, with Rassie Erasmus demanding an improvement from his men.

LAST FIVE: WWLWW

England Team News: Steward, Underhill, Sleightholme & Van Poortvliet in

SQUAD: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Henry Slade, 11 Ollie Sleightholme, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Jack van Poortvliet, 8 Ben Earl, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Chandler Cunningham-South, 5 George Martin, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Will Stuart, 2 Jamie George, 1 Ellis Genge

REPLACEMENTS: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Fin Baxter, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Nick Isiekwe, 20 Alex Dombrandt, 21 Harry Randall, 22 George Ford, 23 Tom Roebuck

South Africa Team News: 12 squad changes for the Boks

SQUAD: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 RG Snyman, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nche

REPLACEMENTS: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Elrigh Louw, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Cobus Reinach, 22 Handre Pollard, 23 Lukhanyo Am

England vs South Africa Prediction

You’d be forgiven for thinking that England were a team in crisis given that they have lost their last four matches, but a closer look reveals that it is only fine margins that have made the difference between victory and defeat in those contests.

Borthwick’s men remain highly competitive, and a victory over the world champions would certainly be a huge statement. However, South Africa are simply a cut above the rest right now and it is difficult to back against them. It should be close, but the visitors are tipped to edge it.

England vs South Africa Tip: South Africa to win by 1-7 points