Springboks aim to have ‘two best teams in the world’

Autumn Nations Series: England v South Africa

Venue: Allianz Stadium, Twickenham Date: Saturday, 16 November Kick-off: 17:40 GMT

Coverage: Commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds; live text commentary on the BBC Sport website & app

World champions South Africa are aiming to have “the two best teams in the world”, says centre Andre Esterhuizen.

Head coach Rassie Erasmus opted to rotate some key starting positions in the Springboks’ victory over Scotland on Sunday, benching captain Siya Kolisi and flanker Pieter-Steph du Toit, which has been a common theme under his management of the team since taking charge in 2017.

Their opening Autumn Nations Series victory also put them back on top of the world rankings after Ireland’s defeat by New Zealand on Friday.

“One of the good things is that everyone is getting game time now,” Esterhuizen, who played instead of regular centre Damian de Allende on Sunday, told the BBC’s Rugby Union Weekly podcast.

“It it also about looking forward, you’ve got to be able to spare all the guys for the next World Cup and build experience into it.

“The aim is to have the two best teams in the world, all in one squad.

“We want to make it second nature for people slotting in, so if someone steps in, they can just slot in and play the same if not better than the other player.”

South Africa won this year’s Rugby Championship for the first time since 2019, losing one match away to Argentina when Erasmus left the majority of his starting XV at home.

Erasmus previously said he would “rather win the World Cup than sit at an 85% win rate”, external after criticism of his side’s record between successful World Cups.

“It is very much a team first environment,” South Africa defence coach Jerry Flannery told BBC Sport.

“The players coach each other, the ‘team first’ mentality is stronger here than I have come across.

“Players have come in this year and couldn’t believe it was all about making

‘It will be great to be running at Smith’

Erasmus’ side next face England, who are yet to pick up a win this autumn, at Twickenham on Saturday.

Steve Borthwick’s side suffered a narrow two-point defeat by New Zealand, before conceding an injury-time winning try to Australia on Saturday.

Despite losing out in the final play two weeks in a row, fly-half and Esterhuizen’s former Harlequins team-mate Marcus Smith has been England’s standout performer in both matches.

“It’s a great space, I obviously love to play there,” Esterhuizen added.

“It will be great to be running at Marcus, not run off him.

“It’s going to be a great match, England have played well in the last few games, it’s unfortunate that it hasn’t been the results that they want.

“I think it’s going to be a big one.”