Ken Borland

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.

Prop Coenie Oosthuizen’s injury-enforced absence from the rest of the Test series against England is a major blow for the Springboks, forwards coach Johann van Graan said on Tuesday.

Oosthuizen has a “mildly bulging disc in his neck”, according to South Africa team doctor Craig Roberts, and will be out of action for between two and three months as the Springboks follow a conservative treatment approach.

“Coenie is still a young player and has a long career ahead of him and needs to be managed appropriately. We will follow a conservative approach with him,” Roberts said.

The 23-year-old Oosthuizen made his debut off the bench in the first Test against England in Durban, but Van Graan said he had made an impressive impact.

“He showed in the first Test what he can do and his injury is a big loss for us, especially since he can play both tighthead and loosehead,” Van Graan told reporters in Johannesburg on Tuesday.

Oosthuizen is also a major threat with ball in hand, as Springbok tighthead Jannie du Plessis pointed out.

“Coenie had two brilliant scrums at tighthead but the real difference he made was in carrying the ball, it’s no secret he’s one of the best in the world at that. He always puts you on the front foot,” Du Plessis said.

While the Springbok ball-carriers dominated England and the advantage line in the second half of the first Test, Du Plessis said the forwards had placed too much pressure on scrumhalf Francois Hougaard on their own ball in the first half, by not offering him enough protection at the breakdowns.

“It’s great to play in a pack where all eight players want to do well, but we weren’t clinical enough at the breakdown. We didn’t hold on to the ball well enough and England had good stealers, especially at second or third phase where we were a bit light on cleaners.

“The longer you keep the ball, the more pressure you can exert on the opposition and we improved in the second half and played better rugby as a result,” Du Plessis said.

While the Springboks expect an even better performance from the England pack in Saturday’s second Test in Johannesburg, an area where the home team is more than likely going to be better is goalkicking. Sharpshooting flyhalf Morne Steyn struggled with the swirling wind inside the King’s Park Stadium in Durban and missed two conversions and a penalty.

“My kicking was not up to standard. The conditions were quite tough, but a kicker must be prepared for all conditions. In a place like Durban, the ball doesn’t travel as you’d like and I allowed too much for the wind. But it should be better at altitude and Ellis Park is closer to Loftus [Steyn’s home ground with the Bulls], so I should be more at home this weekend,” Steyn said.

Van Graan also praised a second debutant, lock Juandre Kruger, for a top-class all-round display.

“Juandre did really well in his first Test, he had a lot of responsibility – organising the calls on our own ball and when we contested, as well as the kick-offs. We only lost three out of 15 balls, so the lineout went well considering we had personnel from different teams,” Van Graan said.

England coach Stuart Lancaster said on Monday that he was delighted midweek games are in the tour schedule during their current trip to South Africa for three Tests.

England are playing a Southern Barbarians XV in Kimberley on Wednesday, before flying back to play the second Test against the Springboks in Johannesburg on Saturday. Next week they also play a midweek game, against the Northern Barbarians.

“The beauty of this tour is that there are opportunities in it to develop experience at the highest environment. It’s an opportunity to build a squad and work with the players. There’s nothing better for a coach than to coach players in a game situation,” Lancaster told a news conference in Johannesburg on Monday.

“There may be an element of distraction from the Test match because instead of having a day off on Wednesday, the whole squad will now travel to Kimberley to provide support. We think that’s important and the challenge is to get the right balance and our attention directed at the right place at the right time. The pros far outweigh the cons and I’d like to do it again in future.”

The eye injury centre Brad Barritt sustained in the first Test in Durban has ruled him out of the second Test and Lancaster said the midweek match provided the ideal opportunity for him to build some midfield depth, particularly in the number 13 jersey.

“I’m playing what would be regarded as two specialist 12s on Wednesday because I want to look at Anthony Allen at 13. I want options for England there and Anthony played outside Brad Barritt in the Churchill Cup.

“The plan is that Anthony will move to 12 in the second half and George Lowe will come on at outside centre. It’s about creating opportunities for everyone and not pigeonholing them,” Lancaster said.

“We must have options in different positions and you don’t get the opportunity to work on that in international rugby – there’s no pre-season and very few warm-up matches.”

England are building a new-look backline, with Saturday’s combination for the first Test only having 98 caps between them, with 72 shared between three players – wings Ben Foden and Chris Ashton and scrumhalf Ben Youngs.

“I’m not afraid to give players chances if they show the right temperament. These lads are coming through as a group, but 13 is an area we still need to look at, we still need to find people to fit in there. Manu Tuilagi was predominantly a wing in age-group rugby,” Lancaster said.

England will also want to be more systematic with their kicking game in Kimberley, a city on the highveld that boasts a hard, dry playing surface, giving kickers extra distance.

“This morning’s review of the Test centred around the third quarter and our lack of composure, especially in terms of our exit strategies – a good kick and chase. Both the halfbacks took responsibility, it’s an honest group and we’ve identified areas we need to work on,” Lancaster said.

Jon Callard, the England kicking coach, said the problems were due to technical issues and breakdowns in communication.

“We had some technical issues but also some communication problems that need to be resolved. For the box kicks, the chasing group were sometimes ready for a move with ball-in-hand so, with the best will in the world, they’re not going to be able to reach a 50-metre kick.

“I thought we dealt with the ball in the air well and produced some good ball to play with from it,” Callard said.

The England team for the second Test will be announced on Thursday.

“We have some important decisions to make in the training tomorrow and then on Thursday we have to make sure the team is cohesive and ready to play,” Lancaster said.

England lost the first Test 17-22 in Durban and have not won at the Springboks’ Johannesburg fortress – Ellis Park – since the 18-9 victory in 1972.