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Cape Town - Dominance at the set-pieces and breakdown area will be vital for the Springboks when they tackle England at Twickenham on Saturday, loose forward Duane Vermeulen has said.
The Boks beat England 2-1 in a home series in June, but the visitors won the final Test 25-10 at a wet Newlands.
Vermeulen addressed reporters in London on Tuesday where he said the Boks can expect more of the same in English conditions this weekend.
“The weather played a big part in how the game unfolded at Newlands. England are used to playing in those conditions and they made things very hard for us,” Vermeulen said.
“They put us under a lot of pressure at the breakdown. Our exits weren’t great. That’s some of the stuff we’ve worked on. If you don’t win your set piece, you’re going to struggle. That’s definitely one of the things we struggled with in the last Test in Cape Town.”
The burly No 8 missed the Rugby Championship where the Boks finished second behind New Zealand with a 50% win-record.
The beat the All Blacks in Wellington, as well as claiming home victories over Australia and Argentina.
“We will stick to a few things that worked in the recent Rugby Championship. We will also have to make adjustments and take the conditions and how the game is played up here into consideration,” Vermeulen noted.
The Springbok team will be named on Thursday, with kick-off scheduled for 17:00 (SA time) on Saturday.
