England’s Ollie Sleightholme said “everyone is desperate to win Test matches” as he responded to South Africa head coach Rassie Erasmus ahead of the sides’ clash at Twickenham on Saturday.
Springboks supremo Erasmus insisted the home team would be “desperate” for victory this weekend after surrendering leads to New Zealand and Australia in their first two Autumn Nations games.
England captain Jamie George said after the defeat to the Wallabies that leaking 42 points at home was “unacceptable” and wing Sleightholme told Sky Sports News the hosts are determined to “right a wrong” when they take on the world champions.
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Sky Sports’ Eleanor Roper analyses England’s poor home performance in their Autumn Nations Series defeat to Australia
Steve Borthwick’s men pushed South Africa all the way in last year’s World Cup semi-final at the Stade de France before going down 16-15.
Sleightholme – who scored two tries against Australia after coming off the bench and is now in pole position to replace the injured Immanuel Feyi-Waboso against the Springboks – said of Erasmus’ comments: “I think everyone is desperate to win Test matches.
“You don’t go in not wanting to win. Whether you’d say desperate, I don’t know, but everyone wants to beat the other team.
“We should go in with confidence. In the World Cup semi-final we had chances to win that and when we play well, put our game on the pitch, we are up there with the top.”
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England captain Jamie George reflects on the narrow defeat to Australia
On the last-gasp loss to Australia, which consigned England to a fourth straight defeat and sixth in their last 10 games, Sleightholme said: “There was an overriding feeling of frustration. It was all there and we were in a position again to win the game.
“There was a lot of good stuff but also a lot of stuff we need to work on and change. It was an agonising game and one you want to right.
“We have a week to work, a week to change those bits we have identified. You don’t get many opportunities to right a wrong on your home patch and we have a chance to do that.
“Keeping a positive vibe is important and Steve [Borthwick] has been good with that.”
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Wing Tommy Freeman says England are eager to correct their mistakes when they take on South Africa
‘We know if we deliver our gameplan we’ll get the result’
Sleightholme’s fellow wing, and Northampton team-mate, Tommy Freeman is adamant England will beat South Africa if they get their strategy correct.
He said: “Whatever [South Africa] bring at us, we will deliver back even harder.
“We probably have this perception of being the underdogs from the outside but we are focusing on ourselves. We know if we deliver our gameplan, give 100 per cent, we’ll get the result
“It is always tough to lose at Twickenham and in such fine margins it’s even tougher We have touched on the missed tackles and there is an onus on us individually.
“We will definitely be stepping that up this week and hopefully putting South Africa under pressure.”
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England coach Steve Borthwick described the defeat to Australia as ‘gutting’
Freeman was hooked at half-time by then England coach Eddie Jones when South Africa visited Twickenham two years ago and told reporters on Monday: “That wasn’t the best feeling in the world.
“I got a tap on the shoulder, ‘you’re coming off’. We had a gameplan to try and get the ball back and I wasn’t delivering that.
“First [match] at Twickenham with your family and friends who didn’t manage to come out to Australia [for my debut] and they’re all sat there watching. It was difficult.
“No one wants it to go that way. You heard stories before of things like that happening and it’s something you never want to happen to you.
“This opportunity is one to put it right, that’s definitely in the back of my mind at the moment.”
Watch every game of the 2025 British and Irish Lions tour of Australia, including all three Test matches against the Wallabies, exclusively live on Sky Sports.
