England face Boks

JOHANNESBURG – While all is calm in the Springbok camp, England have endured another fraught week of preparation for the second test against South Africa in Pretoria on Saturday.

The mysterious stomach virus that struck the tourists shortly after their arrival two weeks ago continues to dog the squad and two more players have been flown in – Bath’s South African-born utility back Nick Abendanon and London Irish wing Topsy Ojo. With captain Jason Robinson struggling with a knee injury, coach Brian Ashton will not name his team until Friday.Whoever Ashton is able to field, they will come up against a rampant Springbok side who inflicted a record 58-10 defeat on them last weekend in Bloemfontein.Ashton said despite the illness sweeping through his squad he still expected an improved display from England on Saturday.”The bug just doesn’t seem to leave the camp, but that’s part and parcel of being on tour.”I still expect a stronger and more intelligent performance on Saturday.We need a strong mentality to make sure we don’t give away as much turnover ball and to make sure we don’t do the things we did in the last 10 minutes in Bloemfontein when we were blown out of the water.”Springboks coach Jake White said his team were looking to build on the positive vibes in South African rugby and lay down another marker for their World Cup pool clash with England in September.White has been able to choose from practically a full squad, with only scrumhalf Fourie du Preez, prop Os du Randt and centre Jaque Fourie the first-choice players who are on the injured list.He named two new startin g props on Wednesday in CJ van der Linde and Gurthro Steenkamp, but there is little to choose between them and the Sharks pairing of BJ Botha and Deon Carstens.Akona Ndungane, who played seven of the Springboks’ last nine tests in 2006, returns on the wing.Nampa-ReutersWith captain Jason Robinson struggling with a knee injury, coach Brian Ashton will not name his team until Friday.Whoever Ashton is able to field, they will come up against a rampant Springbok side who inflicted a record 58-10 defeat on them last weekend in Bloemfontein.Ashton said despite the illness sweeping through his squad he still expected an improved display from England on Saturday.”The bug just doesn’t seem to leave the camp, but that’s part and parcel of being on tour.”I still expect a stronger and more intelligent performance on Saturday.We need a strong mentality to make sure we don’t give away as much turnover ball and to make sure we don’t do the things we did in the last 10 minutes in Bloemfontein when we were blown out of the water.”Springboks coach Jake White said his team were looking to build on the positive vibes in South African rugby and lay down another marker for their World Cup pool clash with England in September.White has been able to choose from practically a full squad, with only scrumhalf Fourie du Preez, prop Os du Randt and centre Jaque Fourie the first-choice players who are on the injured list.He named two new startin g props on Wednesday in CJ van der Linde and Gurthro Steenkamp, but there is little to choose between them and the Sharks pairing of BJ Botha and Deon Carstens.Akona Ndungane, who played seven of the Springboks’ last nine tests in 2006, returns on the wing.Nampa-Reuters