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VERSAILLES - England believe their old rival Eddie Jones has had a key role in shaping the development of Springbok fly-half Butch James.
Reigning champions England face in-form South Africa at the Stade de France on Friday in a bid to get their World Cup campaign back on track after a below par 28-10 Pool A win against minnows the United States.
Jones, Australia's coach when England beat the Wallabies in the World Cup final four years ago in Sydney, is - to the dismay of some of his compatriots - now acting as a consultant to Springbok chief Jake White.
Mike Catt, set to swop at 10 and 12 with Andy Farrell, said Jones had influenced James's style.
"Butch, with Eddie Jones there, is playing a lot like Australia did when Eddie was involved," Catt told reporters at England's hotel here Thursday.
"His size and his strength help the way they want to play. He's developed as a player massively. His kicking game is good and he's making the right decisions. He's good but he's also got fantastic players around him."
Few give England much hope of defeating the Springboks, who began the tournament with an impressive 59-7 victory over Samoa.
But South Africa-born Catt, a veteran of 71 Tests, said England had been in a similar position before.
"When South Africa had won 16 games on the trot, we beat them at Twickenham (in 1998) when they were going for the world record."
However, he stressed England would need to be better at the breakdown than they were first time out at this tournament if history was to repeat itself.
"It's where America got us last time. They just piled bodies in, legally or illegally, it doesn't really matter they got away with it, and we didn't handle it well."
England, with Phil Vickery suspended, will be led by Martin Corry who was stripped of the captaincy after November's 25-14 defeat against South Africa at Twickenham - former coach Andy Robinson's last match in charge.
"He's a solid workhorse," said Catt of back-row forward Corry. "He leads from the front. Everybody's got the utmost respect for him.
"When he captained England last time it didn't go particularly well but he thoroughly deserves the boys to pull together and give him a victory."
- AFP
