Mike Brown has given Planet Rugby an exclusive account of England's chaotic 2018 Ellis Park build-up — including Eddie Jones orchestrating a mock Springbok ambush at Pennyhill Park, complete with green flares, braais, sponsored Jeeps, and staff in green jerseys hurling abuse at players. Brown found it more comic than motivating, and the altitude strategy that accompanied it — staying at sea level and flying up late — proved far more damaging. England raced to 24-3 before Johannesburg's 1,753m altitude dismantled them, handing Erasmus his first win in charge in a 42-39 thriller. Fast forward eight years and Brown sees England approaching the fixture in a far more grounded way — ten days in Jo'burg, hypoxic generators, a coach who doesn't grandstand — but he isn't calling a win. What he does argue is that the post-Six Nations adversity could be exactly the kind of trauma that hardens a squad that has had too smooth a ride. He draws a direct parallel to England's 2015 World Cup humiliation, which preceded a Grand Slam and a long unbeaten run, suggesting this tour could serve the same galvanising function — if the players use it right.