Ken Borland

Eighthman Thomas Waldrom and wing Christian Wade crossed for five tries between them, but it was not one-way traffic for England in their 54-26 (halftime 25-14) victory over the Southern Barbarians in Kimberley on Wednesday.

Waldrom scored tries in the 18th and 50th minutes in a powerhouse display, while Wade showed tremendous pace and finishing ability in scoring well-taken tries in the 20th, 63rd and 81st minutes. England’s other tries were scored by wing George Lowe, lock Graham Kitchener and scrumhalf Danny Care.

But England were hesitant in defence and conceded four tries to the Southern Barbarians, a team made up of non-SuperRugby players.

Flyhalf Charlie Hodgson had a mixed afternoon with the boot, only succeeding with six of his 10 shots at goal.

England scored three tries in five minutes between the 18th and 23rd minutes to take a 25-7 lead, but were only able to add five more tries in the second half, with the half-century only coming up thanks to two tries in the last four minutes.

Waldrom produced a top-class, combative performance against a plucky but outmatched second division combination, while Care was a lively presence at the base of the rucks and scrums.

The scrumhalf was adept at probing the numerous holes in the Barbarians defence, while Waldrom and inside centre Jordan Turner-Hall created space on attack.

The key moment for England came in the 63rd minute when the Barbarians, trailing 21-35, were hard on attack, but they failed to protect their ruck ball and Anthony Allen managed to intercept a 50/50 pass from the ground. The outside centre padded his way upfield before passing inside for Wade to speed away for a try that gave England enough breathing space.

Scorers

Southern Barbarians – Tries: Jacques Engelbrecht, Hannes Franklin, Norman Nelson, Ntabeni Dukisa. Conversions: Elgar Watts (3).

England – Tries: Thomas Waldrom (2), Christian Wade (3), George Lowe, Graham Kitchener, Danny Care. Conversions: Charlie Hodgson (4). Penalties: Hodgson (2).

Pat Lambie returns at fullback while prop Werner Kruger and wing Bjorn Basson come on to the bench in the only changes to South Africa’s side for the second Test against England, Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer announced on Wednesday.

Lambie, who came on for the second half of South Africa’s 22-17 first Test win over England in Durban, replaces the injured Zane Kirchner. The Sharks utility back was the starting fullback during the Springboks’ World Cup campaign last year.

Kruger is a tighthead prop who comes in for Coenie Oosthuizen, who can play on both sides of the scrum but suffered a neck injury last weekend that will keep him out of the rest of the series.

Dean Greyling, a similarly versatile front-ranker, was called into the squad this week, but Meyer told a news conference in Johannesburg on Wednesday that specialist Kruger had been brought into the 22 because starting tighthead Jannie du Plessis is being managed for a calf injury.

“Greyling is a very good impact player and can play both sides, but Jannie has a slight injury so we wanted specialist cover for him,” Meyer said.

The Springbok coach said he was not expecting to lose anything with Lambie replacing Kirchner.

“Pat’s a great player and still very young – people forget he’s just 21. He brings something different, more attacking options, and he had a superb second half last week. In training, he’s shown some brilliant touches in attack.

“Zane is a very good tactical kicker, but I’ve been meeting with Pat, who is also a great kicker, but I want him to improve his tactical kicking. He’s very good under the high ball and very good defensively even though he’s not very big, so we won’t lose much and I’m very confident he will do well,” Meyer said.

“I wanted to keep some continuity in the team because they played reasonably well last week and there are a lot of youngsters who will now know the game plan better,” Meyer said in explaining his decision to make just one injury-enforced change to the starting line-up.

Basson, who takes Lambie’s place on the bench, has claimed six test caps since making his debut in 2010 and his strength is in competing for the ball in the air.

Team – 15-Pat Lambie, 14-JP Pietersen, 13-Jean de Villiers, 12-Francois Steyn, 11-Bryan Habana, 10-Morne Steyn, 9-Francois Hougaard, 8-Pierre Spies, 7-Willem Alberts, 6-Marcell Coetzee, 5-Juandre Kruger, 4-Eben Etzebeth, 3-Jannie du Plessis, 2-Bismarck du Plessis, 1-Tendai Mtawarira. Bench: 16-Adriaan Strauss, 17-Werner Kruger, 18-Flip van der Merwe, 19-Keegan Daniel, 20-Ruan Pienaar, 21-Wynand Olivier, 22-Bjorn Basson.

Experienced loose forward James Haskell is delighted to be back with an England side he believes is playing with the same passion as the All Blacks.

Haskell has spent the last six months with the Otago Highlanders in New Zealand, following stints in Japan with the Ricoh Black Rams and two years in France for Stade Francais. The 27-year-old will return to London Wasps, for whom he played for seven years, at the end of the SuperRugby season.

Haskell earned 42 test caps between 2007 and last year’s World Cup and is one of the few “old guard” that new England coach Stuart Lancaster has retained after taking over the reins for the Six Nations at the start of 2012.

“I’ve always said that my reason for playing rugby is to play for my country and this is a very exciting new set-up. I was told Stuart wanted to rebuild the passion and mentality of the team, and I want to be a part of that, it’s very exciting,” Haskell says in Johannesburg during England’s build-up for the second test against South Africa.

“Stuart has made it like the All Blacks – the shirt is not yours, you have to fight for it and I’m happy to fit in with that. I may have 42 caps, but I’m back right at the bottom of the ladder and in this team, experience doesn’t count for much,” Haskell says without a hint of bitterness.

While the well-travelled Haskell is clearly built for physical confrontation at 114kg and 1.94 metres tall, he believes he has become a better player now for more cerebral reasons.

“The difference is in small percentages and in things that aren’t so tangible. I hope I’m more consistent and my game-understanding is better.

“They have a very attacking mentality in New Zealand, they get a lot of quick ball and it’s all about one-on-one battles and pace and speed. If they can beat their opposite number, then it’s a try.”

Haskell suggests there is an air of predictability about English rugby and that of their current opponents, South Africa.

“We have the talent and passion, but it’s those little nuances and mental stuff that we need. Like learning from other countries what they do well and speaking to other coaches.

“We can maybe not be so robotic. I’ve learnt from Adam Thomson and Andrew Hore at the Highlanders that, bar knowing what foot they kick off and their basic pattern, they don’t know anything about the opposition. They just worry about their game plan. You can become caught up in talking about your opposition too much,” Haskell says.

While Lancaster is not expected to tamper with the current test loose trio led by captain Chris Robshaw, Haskell will be out to impress on Wednesday against the Southern Barbarians in Kimberley.

“There’s a lot of competition in the back row but there’s no rush. I’ll just play on Wednesday and do my best to live up to Stuart’s expectations,” the former U21 star says.

Although he is playing in the number six jersey on Wednesday, Haskell says the proof of his ability will be in far more than just stealing the ball at the breakdowns.

“I played eighthman in Japan and a bit at 6 for the Highlanders, but at 7 for the rest and that’s my favourite position. I love the battles and the speed of the game, but the England captain is currently number seven!

“But the days of a flank just trying to get over the ball are probably gone. You need to be a ball-carrier and disruptive on to the ball. Just look at Richie McCaw, he carries the ball well and reads the breakdown brilliantly.”

While New Zealand’s brand of rugby has clearly stolen Haskell’s heart, he also has admiration for the steel of the Springboks.

“South African rugby, especially the Bulls and Stormers, is more about physical attrition. You know what’s coming, there’s a certain predictability, but you have to be on top of your game to stop it! If you don’t match their intensity then they’ll boss the gain-line and then play from there,” Haskell says, before warning that a Springbok side that thinks a little more out of the box would be impossible to contain.

“If the Boks learn things like tip-ons (offloads), then they’ll blow everyone away.”

While Haskell says he is looking forward to playing his rugby in England once again, he has clearly learnt much in foreign climes.

“I’ve been away for three years which means I’ve been around a bit. It’s helped me off the field as well, but it’s been invaluable playing outside of Europe, especially in SuperRugby,” Haskell says.

England assistant coach Simon Hardy said on Tuesday that Wednesday’s match against a “very proud” Southern Barbarians team is about restoring positive vibes in the touring camp after the disappointment of losing the first test to the Springboks last weekend.

England opened their South African tour with a 17-22 defeat against the Springboks in the first test in Durban, and now play an invitation side drawn from second division provinces in Kimberley on Wednesday.

The second test is back in Johannesburg on Saturday.

“We’ve had a loss so now we need to get the momentum back. If we can come away with a good win, then it will get things moving in the right direction again,” Hardy told a news conference in Johannesburg on Tuesday.

“We were disappointed with Saturday and we’ve reflected and had our review, but like all good sides, we know we’re on the path to somewhere. We learn from our disappointments and move on, we don’t encourage the players to dwell on their mistakes. The next game is all about positives.”

The Southern Barbarians have just three players with any SuperRugby experience – the former Lions trio of lock David Bulbring, prop Ross Geldenhuys and hooker Hannes Franklin – but Hardy said he was expecting a fiery encounter.

“It’s very traditional in the sense that all I know about the opposition are their heights, weights, date of birth and the teams they’ve played for, but it will be a physical battle and we need to take it on. I imagine, like most midweek teams, that they will have a lot of pride and will want to go out and get one over us,” Hardy said.

Harlequins lock George Robson will captain England in his first appearance in the senior national team jersey and he echoed Hardy’s desire to consign last weekend’s defeat to distant memory.

“It’s a massive honour, I’m really proud and it’s been really special to get so many messages from home today. But we need to make sure we build on the positives from the first game and improve on what we learnt. It’ll be great to have the test squad watching us, but we need to put on a good performance and get the result,” Robson said.

“We have some great players in key positions and lots of leaders at eight, nine and 10. Chris Robshaw [England’s test captain and Robson’s Harlequins team-mate] came and had a word with me and told me not to change anything, to do the same things and bring what I would normally bring to a game.”

Half-backs Danny Care and Charlie Hodgson, who have 70 test caps between them, will be in charge of directing England’s game plan on Wednesday, while experienced former New Zealander Thomas Waldrom is an imposing presence at eighthman.

Hardy defended the management’s decision that the test squad would travel together with the midweek team to Kimberley, which is a 90-minute flight (453km).

“We’re one squad and the culture in the group is that we are one team. These players have supported the test squad the last two weeks in training … ” Hardy said.

Teams

Southern Barbarians – 15-Jacquin Jansen (Boland); 14-Cornal Hendricks (Boland), 13-Kempie Rautenbach (SWD), 12-Wayne Stevens (EP Kings), 11-Norman Nelson (EP Kings); 10-Elgar Watts (Boland), 9-Boela Abrahams (EP Kings); 8-Jacques Engelbrecht (EP Kings), 7-Shaun Raubenheimer (SWD), 6-Mpho Mbiyozo (EP Kings); 5-David Bulbring (EP Kings), 4-Nolan Clark (Boland); 3-Ross Geldenhuys (Boland), 2-Hannes Franklin (EP Kings), 1-Corne Fourie (Pumas). Replacements: 16-Clemen Lewis (Boland), 17-Dean Hopp (SWD), 18-Samora Fihlani (Border), 19-Zandre’ Jordaan (Boland), 20-Ntando Kebe (Border), 21-Ricardo Croy (Boland), 22-Ntabeni Dukisa (Border).

England – 15-Alex Goode, 14-David Strettle, 13-Anthony Allen, 12-Jordan Turner-Hall, 11-Christian Wade, 10-Charlie Hodgson, 9-Danny Care. 8-Thomas Waldrom, 7-Carl Fearns, 6-James Haskell, 5-George Robson, 4-Graham Kitchener, 3-Paul Doran-Jones, 2-Joe Gray, 1-Mutt Mullan. Replacements: 16-Tom Youngs, 17-Rupert Harden, 18-Tom Palmer, 19-Jamie Gibson, 20-Lee Dickson, 21-George Lowe, 22-Nick Abendanon.