It all comes down to 80 minutes

It was interesting hearing from an English journalist who phoned me from London the other night to get some information on the Springboks and the schedule on their warm-up tour of Scotland and Ireland.

The call took place just a few days after France beat England in a tight struggle at Twickenham, and was before the second of the warm-up matches between these old rivals in Marseilles. Even though England lost at home, I was assured the consensus in the England written media was that their team have made progress since they were here in South Africa just a few months ago.

Which some might suggest is not hard to do, for let’s face it, that was an England third team. As I wrote at the time, the Boks would have learned nothing from England in that series, and, in turn, England, considering how much the South Africans appeared to be holding back, would have learned diddly squat from their hosts.

But that’s also what worries me about these warm-up games. Bok coach Jake White, in contrast to the general English view, appears to think that England are going backwards rather than forwards. And he was quite outspoken after the Twickenham match about what he thought of the style England were employing.

In a nutshell, White does not believe that England have embraced the new way of playing that Brian Ashton promised when he took over. They still rely on the approach that won them the World Cup in 2003, with everything centred on forward dominance and a flyhalf who can dictate.

The only problem is that their forwards are not as authoritative as when Martin Johnson was leading a core of hardened veterans who had been building up for the main event since 1998. And the England squad that have been selected for this World Cup may just be the oldest 30-man group ever assembled for a World Cup.

The count is 14 players out of 30 over the age of 30, which is astounding if you consider that the Springbok team selected for the Namibian match included just three players who are around that age. The rest are all in their twenties.

White often talks about the importance of experience, and his team for Namibia, which excluded the relatively youthful but experienced Bryan Habana, boasted a whopping 580 test caps between them. That is an average of almost 40 test caps per player, and yet you would not call the team old.

This is what might distinguish this English squad from their predecessors. Mike Catt has been around for yonks. But while that means he has experience, for my money he is too slow now to be a factor if you want to really attack from the back. That the former South African was heralded as a saviour during the last Six Nations season sums up the plight England are in.

And yet, there is that nagging feeling that maybe White and company shouldn’t get too carried away in rubbishing England, for these warm-up games do carry a fair element of falseness about them. Half the England team that lost at Twickenham was made up of first choice players, but they were without Jonny Wilkinson until the last couple of minutes.

One player cannot make a team, but there is no denying that an England team with Wilkinson in it is a very different proposition to one without him. He does bring the direction at the back that they lack when he is not there, he also bring authoritativeness.

And the great irony is that what South Africans are saying about England is pretty much what England are saying about the Springboks – blunt their physical pack and you have the match won. The Boks do have more firepower at the back, and they have freakily talented loose-forwards, but what if the pool game on September 14 is played in bad weather?

I have seen the England pack get up before, most recently in a test against the All Blacks at Twickenham two years ago that they only just lost. Try and tell me then that Wilkinson, in northern hemisphere conditions, will not be a factor. And think back to South Africa’s last test match in France before you try and tell me that the Bok tight five is invincible.

In many ways this pool game is a reversal of the one between these same sides in Perth four years ago. Back then no-one gave the Boks a hope, and yet for nearly an hour the game was in the balance. The Boks must be favourites, but you won’t see this critic writing off England’s chances of winning an 80 minute one-off.