Skip to main content
The Morning Star Shop
Scrum coach Hatley calls on England to be brave against South Africa
England's Eddie Jones

ENGLAND enter tomorrow's pivotal second Test against South Africa with orders to rise above recent results by playing with courage.

Eddie Jones's men are seeking to end their five-match losing run when their series against the Springboks continues at Free State Stadium, knowing that another defeat will render the tour a failure.

A 42-39 collapse at Ellis Park has turned the trip to Bloemfontein into a must-win encounter as pressure builds on Jones's England.

"We never talk about playing with fear, we talk about playing with courage and conviction," scrum coach Neal Hatley said.

"If it's there to play, we will. We want to be aggressive, we want to play with the ball in hand. We want to make attack a real focal point.

"If it's on, then we expect it to be played. We've got people like Owen Farrell and George Ford, guys who see the game very well.

"We'll need to be better this time because South Africa will be better. They've made a couple of changes that will help their set piece, so we expect them to be stronger there.

"It was a good comeback from them in Johannesburg, so they'll be confident and better for the extra week they've had."

Free State Stadium was the home ground for South Africa boss Rassie Erasmus, who played for Free State for seven years before beginning his coaching career, while the 100th cap being won by Tendai “Beast” Mtawarira serves as further motivation for another Springbok win.

"There will be a number of reasons why they are hungry to win this game," Hatley said.

"It's the Beast's 100th game and Rassie's first game at his old ground. They don't lack incentives but neither do we."

South Africa's main danger man is electric Sale scrum-half Faf de Klerk and England know the importance of denying him the type of platform that gave him the freedom of Ellis Park a week ago.

"Stopping De Klerk starts with stopping any momentum they get. We have to make sure that our pack stops their momentum," Hatley said.

"If he doesn't have momentum, then it's very hard for him to generate the speed and tempo that he did for the middle part of the first Test.

"It's not just about stopping Faf, it's about stopping the people around him as well."

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
Keir Starmer
Editorial / 23 May 2025
23 May 2025
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves speaks with the media at the Rolls-Royce factory in Derby, following the announcement from the Office for National Statistics that the UK economy grew by 0.7% between January and March, May 15, 2025
Editorial: / 15 May 2025
15 May 2025
Similar stories
South Africa head coach Rassie Erasmus before the Autumn int
Men’s Rugby Union / 14 November 2024
14 November 2024
England head coach Jon Lewis during a nets session at The Cl
Women’s cricket / 12 November 2024
12 November 2024
England's Immanuel Feyi-Waboso in action during the Autumn i
Men's Rugby Union / 11 November 2024
11 November 2024
England head coach Steve Borthwick during a training session
Men's Rugby Union / 6 November 2024
6 November 2024