Ken Borland

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.

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South Africa fullback Zane Kirchner has been ruled out of the second Test against England and Stormers utility back Gio Aplon has been called up into the Springbok squad to replace him, team management announced on Monday.

Kirchner injured his knee during the 22-17 first Test victory in Durban last weekend and was unable to take the field for the second half. The 27-year-old had a scan on Monday morning and, according to a statement released by team management, “it was decided that he would not be considered for the second Test”, in Johannesburg on Saturday.

The statement said Kirchner’s knee would be checked again next week ahead of the final Test in Port Elizabeth on June 23.

Aplon was one of the original 42-man Springbok training squad announced last month and was considered a controversial omission from the final squad, having starred for the Stormers en route to the top of the South African SuperRugby conference and having played in last year’s World Cup.

The diminutive Aplon [1.75m, 78kg] has played 16 Tests and his omission caused a storm of protest in his home city of Cape Town.

Kirchner is likely to be replaced in the starting line-up by Sharks utility back Pat Lambie, who slotted in well at fullback in the second half of the first Test. Aplon has the ability to play both fullback and wing.

Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer said on Monday that although Lambie was a quality replacement, fullback was a specialist position that would require some thought.

“Obviously Pat is a great fullback and he had a good second half, I was happy with his performance. Obviously he’s one of the guys who has played there before and it’s easy to use the group system, that’s helpful. But it’s always tough losing a fullback because it means you need a specialist reserve,” Meyer said.

South Africa’s other injury concern is prop Coenie Oosthuizen, who can play on either side of the front five and came off the bench in Durban.
Oosthuizen experienced pain in his shoulder and neck region on Monday morning and Bulls prop Dean Greyling has been called up as cover.

Meyer said Oosthuizen’s potential unavailability after earning his first test cap, would seriously complicate matters because he wants to go into the match with a prop on the bench who is comfortable with playing both loosehead and tighthead prop.
Greyling, 26 years old, has played Two tests, both 11 months ago when South Africa sent a weakened team to the away leg of the Tri-Nations in Australia and New Zealand.

Meyer also praised England for their defence in the first Test and said it had been hard for the Springboks to get their game-plan going.

“Our scrumhalf, Francois Hougaard, struggled a little bit because a lot of guys up front haven’t fitted in together before and didn’t provide him enough protection. That’s rustiness and we worked on that today, but credit to England because they pressed hard in midfield. They’re a quality side and their defence was good,” Meyer said.

“England were awesome at times, they showed great defence and great discipline and you can not go into a comfort zone against that sort of quality. They don’t give up like a lot of other teams give up and they came right at the end.”

South African women’s golf has received a boost with the announcement that the South African Women’s Open will return to the Ladies European Tour (LET) schedule in July.

The likes of 2010 LET Order of Merit winner Lee-Anne Pace and Ashleigh Simon, a three-time SA Open champion and the winner of two LET events, will take on a strong international field at the Selborne Park Golf Club on the KwaZulu-Natal south coast from July 13-15.

Fellow LET campaigner Tandi Cunningham, who won the last South African Women’s Open in 2009, is the defending champion.

The organisers announced on Monday that there will be a field of 84 golfers, including 56 from the LET, who will be playing for 260 000 euro in prizemoney.

England fullback Mike Brown has been ruled out of the Test series against South Africa with a fractured thumb and will be replaced by Bath’s Nick Abendanon, team management confirmed on Monday.

Abendanon has already joined up with the squad ahead of the second Test against the Springboks on Saturday in Johannesburg, where he attended the weekend wedding of Bath team-mate Pieter Dixon.

The 25-year-old Abendanon was born in Johannesburg and made his Test debut in nearby Pretoria against the Springboks in 2007. He earned his second and last Test cap against France at Twickenham later that year.

Harlequins star Brown will return home for an operation on his thumb.

England’s backline will have to be further shuffled for the second Test after Brad Barritt, another South African-born player, underwent a minor operation at the weekend for a lacerated eyeball.

“Barritt won’t figure in this week’s games, but will join us in Johannesburg later this week,” England media manager Dave Barton told Reuters on Monday.

The 25-year-old Barritt has remained in Durban, where he was resident when he began his professional career with the Natal Sharks, because he is not yet able to fly.

Abendanon took a full part in training on Monday and will come into contention for selection for the team to play the Southern Barbarians in Kimberley on Wednesday. That team will be announced later on Monday.

South Africa staged a second-half rally to beat England 22-17 in the first Test in Durban last weekend, with tries scored by flyhalf Morne Steyn and centre and new captain Jean de Villiers, although the tourists were outdone up front by the Springbok pack.