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Os: We can bounce back

London - South Africa scrum coach Os du Randt has insisted the world champions can bounce back from their shock 21-17 loss to Scotland when they face an in-form England at Twickenham.

The Springboks' defeat at Murrayfield led to renewed criticism of head coach Peter de Villiers following a disastrous Tri-Nations where South Africa lost five of their six matches.

Their European tour is also being played out against the shadow of a drugs scandal that has already seen hooker Chiliboy Ralepelle and Bjorn Basson sent home for taking a stimulant, leaving the Springboks fearful several other players could inadvertently have taken the same banned substance.

But former prop du Randt, a World Cup winner with South Africa in both 1995 and 2007, said the Springboks could learn from Scotland who went into their match on the back of a 49-3 thrashing by New Zealand only the week before.

"They (Scotland) used their defeat by the All Blacks to motivate them against us," du Randt said after training here on Monday. "We can use the disappointments of Saturday in the same way.

"Our aim is finish the season's Test match programme on a high and we have that opportunity on Saturday."

Prop forward Tendai Mtawarira sat out training on Monday following a knee injury suffered at Murrayfield.

Team doctor Craig Roberts said a decision in whether Mtawarira was available to face England following a "mild" medial ligament strain would be made later in the week.

But du Randt said South Africa could cope without the powerhouse prop, nicknamed 'The Beast'.

"CJ van der Linde covers both prop positions and we have Coenie Oosthuizen who has been making his way as a loosehead," said du Randt.

"He was a tighthead at school and has the ability to play there in the future but for now it's better to phase him in as a loosehead, where he made his senior debut as a 19-year-old.

"He has the talent and the ability to play for the Springboks for a long time," du Randt added after a training session where replacements Charl McLeod (scrum-half), Bandise Maku (hooker) and Odwa Ndungane (wing) joined the squad.

South Africa are due to name their team to play England on Tuesday for what will be the first of two matches in a fortnight at Twickenham, where their tour finishes with a match against the Barbarians on December 4.

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