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Coetzee quick to claim underdog status

Cape Town - Springbok head coach Allister Coetzee remained positive ahead of Saturday's clash with England at Twickenham but was quick to claim underdog status.

The Boks have battled this year, winning just four out of nine Tests while England are on a nine-match winning streak under their new head coach, Eddie Jones.

"We are definitely underdogs this week‚" said Coetzee.

"We are playing against the second best team in the world on a long winning streak.

"They did extremely well in Australia and reading the reports they are looking forward to facing us. They are a strong team."

The Boks have been boosted by the arrival of all their overseas-based players and Coetzee said preparations are on track for Saturday's Test.

"Our preparations for this game started in earnest on Sunday night when all the players arrived from their various clubs‚" he added.

"We felt we had the full Springbok team together again.

"At training you could see the guys that have played at a high level before and all it took was a few tweaks and adjustments for them to fit in.

"Players came in with different mind-sets as some came from the Japanese league and some from Europe. It is challenging but they have all bought in to what we are trying to achieve on this tour."

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