KEY POINTS:
Andy Goode has been given the chance to make the England number 10 shirt his own when he makes his third international start in place of the injured Charlie Hodgson against South Africa this weekend.
The Leicester player replaced Hodgson just before halftime in last weekend's 23-21 victory and was always likely to retain the first five-eighths berth after Hodgson was diagnosed with serious knee ligament damage that has ruled him out for the season.
Goode was one of four changes announced by coach Andy Robinson on Tuesday as he sought to chalk up an eighth successive victory over the Springboks having eased the pressure somewhat by ending his own seven-game losing streak.
Phil Vickery, whose late try in his first England appearance for a year won the game last Saturday, starts at unfamiliar loosehead prop in place of Andrew Sheridan, who is also out for the season with a broken ankle.
Chris Jones, another to impress from the bench on Saturday, starts alongside Tom Palmer in an inexperienced but dynamic second row, while Lee Mears replaces George Chuter at hooker.
Two weeks ago, Goode was dropped from the 22 to face Argentina but Hodgson's misfortune and the continuing injury absence of Jonny Wilkinson -- whose last England action took place three years ago tomorrow in the 2003 World Cup final -- has given him the chance to really stake a claim.
"There is a big statement for Andy Goode to make, I'm not trying to pile pressure on him but he can take a real hold on the 10 position by his performance," Robinson told a news conference.
"Last week he turned the game around for us and this week he has to take the game by the scruff of the neck from the start. He has a real confidence about how he can play and it's about the team responding to his decisions."
Robinson praised the impact of Jones last week and said that with Palmer there would be some extra pace in the second row against what was an outstanding Springbok lineout.
His bigger problem, however, was England's awful tactical kicking game, which showed no improvement from the mess against Argentina.
"The work they've been doing in training I've been pleased with but they have to transfer that into test matches and that pressurised environment," Robinson said.
"They are basic errors and we have to cut them out for this week.
"What made it worse was that actually in that first 20 minutes our kicking game was good but suddenly panic set in and in that 15 minute period before halftime the ball did not want to go off the pitch.
"I can assure you that calls were going on to get the ball off, it just wasn't happening.
"It's happened in the same period in all three games so that's poor game management and there are obviously issues to look at."
Robinson accepted that his team also lost their way with ball in hand against the Springboks. "It's all about that extra pass," he said. "Last week we got a bit blinkered and narrow -- at one point the entire team were within a 13-metre wide area and obviously you are not going to beat any defence like that.
"We have to trust ourselves to use full width of the pitch."
South Africa coach Jake White names his team tonight. Several changes are certain after he too suffered a rash of injuries last Saturday.
England:
15-Josh Lewsey; 14-Mark Cueto, 13-Mathew Tait, 12-Jamie Noon, 11-Ben Cohen; 10-Andy Goode, 9-Peter Richards; 8-Martin Corry (captain), 7-Pat Sanderson, 6-Joe Worsley, 5-Chris Jones, 4-Tom Palmer, 3-Julian White, 2-Lee Mears, 1-Phil Vickery.
Replacements:
16-George Chuter, 17-Tim Payne, 18-Ben Kay, 19-Lewis Moody, 20-Shaun Perry, 21-Toby Flood, 22-Mark Van Gisbergen.
- REUTERS
