Marcus Smith says England are travelling to South Africa with a clear intent to make an immediate impact in the opening round of the Nations Championship, targeting an upset against the world champions in Johannesburg next week.
A 36-man England squad touches down in Johannesburg on Thursday, and Smith — now capped 50 times — is under no illusions about the scale of the task. "It's one shot," he said. "We've spoken about leaving it all out there. It's a hell of an opportunity. I don't think England have been there since 2018 so we could create history, going down there to deliver a result."
England have been training in oxygen masks at their Bagshot base to acclimatise ahead of the Highveld conditions. With fixtures against Fiji and Argentina to follow the Springbok clash, the squad is acutely aware that the tone for their Nations Championship campaign needs to be set early.
Rassie Erasmus, meanwhile, has been publicly complimentary about England flanker Henry Pollock ahead of the fixture.