Be careful what you wish for. That would be my message to England supporters getting a little bit ahead of themselves and wishing South Africa were due at Twickenham on Sunday. By all means get a little carried away \u2013 that\u2019s the beauty of following a team on a winning run and it\u2019s a demonstration of the confidence surrounding England at the moment \u2013 but the Springboks can wait until next summer.<\/p>\n
They remain the standard-bearers in world rugby. They are perfectly placed to achieve their goal of finishing the year as the No 1 team in the world and given South Africa have never won in Dublin\u00a0under Rassie Erasmus there will be plenty of motivation to create another piece of history\u00a0against Ireland on Saturday. The question is, have England closed the gap this autumn? And if so, by how much.<\/p>\n
I believe they have, because if you look at the three hallmarks of any great side, England have made progress. They are tracking really well, up to No 3 in the world, and they are the form team of the home\u00a0nations.<\/p>\n
The set piece has improved immeasurably since Steve Borthwick took over. The lineout wobbled against New Zealand<\/a>, but that will just be a blip. And the scrum is a genuine force. England had the best in the Six Nations and you look at who is starting in the front row against Argentina \u2013 Ellis Genge, Luke Cowan-Dickie and Asher Opoku-Fordjour<\/a> \u2013 and you look at what is in reserve and\u00a0England are capable of excelling at scrum-time for 80\u00a0minutes.<\/p>\n England are the leading side at successfully chasing kicks at present, which, as we\u2019ve seen over the past 12 months, is an integral part of the game. Like scrummaging, it has been a staple of the Springboks\u2019 success, but again England have made strides and their breakdown ability, to work hard and compete on the floor, has come on leaps and\u00a0bounds.<\/p>\n Would South Africa look enviously at any part of England\u2019s game? Probably not, but there would be an awareness the gap between the two sides is closing.<\/p>\n Henry Pollock could be a key player for England at the 2027 World Cup and may be used as a hybrid player. Photograph: Rob Newell\/CameraSport\/Getty Images<\/p>\n There are areas where the Springboks remain streets ahead. South Africa\u2019s coaching staff are the world leaders at using their bench, at being proactive when making\u00a0changes. England have their Pom\u00a0Squad, but South Africa have been employing their Bomb Squad for years to devastating\u00a0effect.<\/p>\n While Borthwick has talked up the potential of Henry Pollock and Ben Earl <\/a>as hybrid players, we have not seen very much of it, certainly not from the start of matches. Compare that with the Springboks, who lost a hooker at the 2023 World Cup and brought in a fly-half who kicked them to the trophy. Cheslin Kolbe takes lineouts, Andr\u00e9 Esterhuizen plays centre and flanker \u2013 England have a way to go before catching up in terms of these bold innovations.<\/p>\n The final area where South Africa remain out in front is defence. This autumn they have scored 125 points in three matches and conceded just 38 despite receiving two red cards<\/a>. I do not intend to open that can of worms, only to say that a reset is required. It is clear coaches, players and officials are not on the same page and that needs to change.<\/p>\n England have shown promising signs in defence, Richard Wigglesworth has taken over, but he is being assisted by Byron McGuigan, who ran a tight ship on the summer tour of Argentina. There may be one or two concerns about the tries conceded against New Zealand, the manner in which the All Blacks had some joy in the No 13 channel, but England are not as porous as they were 12 months\u00a0ago.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n The latest rugby union news and analysis, plus all the week’s action reviewed<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: <\/strong>Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com<\/a> to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n It helps they are scoring tries \u2013 14 in three autumn games \u2013 because that eases the pressure on the defence. That can be suffocating when you know you are struggling to score points.<\/p>\n None of this is to say England should be looking at the Springboks as the best team in the world and copy them because by the time they catch up, the ever-innovative South Africa will have moved on. But rugby is cyclical, it goes in trends, and credit Borthwick for recognising the areas in which the Springboks are world leaders, areas he believes he can ape and use to improve his side.<\/p>\n