England centre Henry Slade believes that a win against the Springboks would be the perfect way to make amends on the Autumn Nations Series, after suffering ‘two frustrating results’ against the All Blacks and Wallabies. Steve Borthwick’s side face off against the back-to-back World Champions on Saturday, with Slade recognising the colossal challenge that his side takes on, to return to winning form at the Allianz Stadium.
“So far we have had two frustrating results.” Slade told the media at England’s training camp. “But I feel if a couple of things go differently in either game and go the other way you are looking at two fantastic results and everyone is saying we have had a really fantastic Autumn.
“When you look at things outcome-based, on the surface, nought from two isn’t good with the double World Cup winners coming up next it is not an ideal situation to be in. But we feel like we have made some good strides as a group over these last four weeks and are looking forward to a big challenge on Saturday.
“Every time you play against one of the top sides in the world, a top four side, you always want to go up against the best sides in the world and win. That is the outlook this week, it is definitely going to be tough, they have got some unbelievable players and they have been at the top of the game for a long time now, those guys. Definitely, a win would feel really good.”
An area that England will be looking to tighten up this week is their defence, having leaked 42 points against Australia and 24 points a fortnight ago to the All Blacks. Conceding 66 points in just two Test matches is not the standard that England hold themselves to, with the squad currently experiencing some teething issues under their new defence coach Joe El-Abd.
England really kicked up a gear on the defensive foot when Felix Jones took charge, as the Irishman incorporated the ‘blitz’ defence into Steve Borthwick’s overall system, which was impressive in the 2024 Six Nations and subsequent Summer tour of Japan and New Zealand. The high pressure line-speed defence requires each and every one of the 15 on field players to buy in on every phase, with Slade expressing how cracks start to appear if one or two of the players are slow off the mark in the defensive line.
“I feel like it is such a way of defending that if there is not a full buy-in, then cracks to appear. The longer we have training, the more understanding everyone has a group and getting everyone on the same page, I think it can be a really powerful way of defending so we are trying to fast track that learning. I feel this week there has been a big step forward in that regard. More emphasis put on it.
“We don’t have any contact with Felix. I’m not sure if the coaches do or not. We’ve been working with Joe and our defensive leaders, trying to set the defence and the team up to defend as well as possible. Obviously, things have not quite gone as well and when not everyone is on the same page – some people flying, some people not – it looks like it’s a bit ragged but the thing with the blitz is you have to fully commit, go all in, and be together. Then it becomes strong.”
The defensive approach to tackling South Africa has been at the forefront of the preparations this week at Pennyhill Park. Slade expressed how the defensive leaders are continuously working with Joe El-Abd to ensure that England’s armaments are as solid as possible for the incoming Boks battering rams.
“As players and guys who are more in charge of the defensive side of things, we are taking it upon ourselves and working with Joe to make sure we everyone is in the right mind set and aligned in what we do. Definitely taking it on ourselves to do the work and making sure everyone is on same page.”
“When you are on the back foot and a team has got momentum it is really hard. One thing we have challenged ourselves this week is we were losing the collisions a few too many times than we wanted to and that makes everything hard. We have looked at ourselves and how we individually defended and put that right.”
“Our discipline wasn’t very good, not the best against Australia. It felt a bit like Australia were playing with advantage quite a lot and when teams are playing with advantage they are able to chuck offloads and move balls they probably wouldn’t normally do. That keeps the ball alive and makes it hard for defences to set and you are always chasing your tail. If one person, or two people are flying up and one isn’t, there is a real disconnect there and at this level, team exploit that. We are endeavouring to make sure everyone is together and if you do that there is not a lot of space anyway.”
England head coach Steve Borthwick will name his side to play South Africa later today, with an assortment of changes expected to the starting XV. Immanuel Fey-Waboso and Tom Curry both sustained head injuries against Australia, with the Sale Sharks flanker knocked unconscious following his collision with the powerful knee of Rob Valentini. Both men are set to miss the battle with the Springboks, with Slade providing an update on the health of his Exeter teammate Feyi-Waboso.
“Manny is ok, hopefully he will back for the next game. He’s back home resting. There are a lot of competition, we don’t know the team yet, we have got some great backfield guys in this squad and whoever is going to be there will do a good job, I am sure. Everyone seems to slot in seamlessly so.”
Also, Slade and his midfield partner Ollie Lawrence swapped shirts for last weekend’s match against Australia, with the Bath man donning his 13 jersey that he frequents in blue, black and white at the Rec. Whilst Slade is often England’s outside centre, the Chiefs man took up the 12 shirt for the second Test of the Autumn, yet the two West Country midfielders were able to seamlessly interchange their roles when defending in the back-line.
“Not a lot changed, I think he (Ollie Lawrence) just likes wearing 13. I still defend there, he defends at 12 and we will change how we attack depending on what move we want to run and how we are trying to utilise our strengths. We both bring very different things to the team. It doesn’t matter what number is on your back, we want to use the best guys in the best positions.”
“That is always the aim, to not concede. You look at South Africa, they are aggressive, they scramble really well but we are working on those too. They have been working on it a fair bit longer than us and we are trying to get to those heights. It is going to be exciting come Saturday, two teams going at it, see who has got it.
Leaving the last-ditch defeat to the Wallabies in the past, Slade has all eyes on Saturday, with the mental preparations going according to plan for his teammates. The review sessions went off without a hitch, and the anticipation is continuing to build for Borthwick’s squad for the fierce fixture with the reigning world champions.
“On Sunday evening it was a bit quieter, boys were gutted with the last couple of results because they have been so close and frustrating. From Monday we had a good review Sunday night and yesterday we got stuck into how we are going to beat South Africa.
“I have been very impressed about how everyone has been all in on that. Things have happened but you can’t change the past, it is all about getting excited about what is to come and that is South Africa at home in front of what I assume will be a sell out crowd. It is a massive task and we are excited to get stuck in.”
“We have a specific way we want to play each week, catered to each team, but we have got our DNA what we are trying to be about, which is ever present. There are always adaptations every week, for whoever we are playing against and what type of attack we are defending against and what type of D we are attacking against.
“We are not going to shut up shop and go away from what we are trying to do. We have got a DNA of how we want to play, how we want to attack and how we want to defend. We will be pushing as hard as we can to accelerate that learning and improvement and hopefully get a good result on Saturday.”
