England wing Tommy Freeman is bristling with intent ahead of their vitally important encounter against the Springboks this weekend.
The Red Rose – and their head coach Steve Borthwick – are under severe pressure following successive defeats in the November campaign.
While the narrow loss to the All Blacks was understandable if frustrating, the reversal against the Wallabies was deemed “unforgivable” by captain Jamie George.
They now take on the back-to-back Rugby World Cup winners South Africa, who have just regained top spot in the World Rugby rankings following their victory over Scotland.
England underdogs
Rassie Erasmus’ men will be heavy favourites going into the clash at Twickenham but Freeman insists that England can withstand the upcoming onslaught.
“Whatever [South Africa] bring at us, we will deliver back even harder,” he told reporters.
“We probably have this perception of being the underdogs from the outside but we are focusing on ourselves. We know if we deliver our game plan, give 100 per cent, we’ll get the result.
“It is always tough to lose at Twickenham and in such fine margins it’s even tougher. We have touched on the missed tackles and there is an onus on us individually.
“We will definitely be stepping that up this week and hopefully putting South Africa under pressure.”
England: Predicted team v Springboks as Steve Borthwick ‘pulls trigger’ after Wallabies debacle
The Springboks have won their past two games against England, with their most recent a 16-15 victory in the World Cup semi-final.
Prior to that, South Africa emerged 27-13 triumphant at Twickenham in a dominant display which proved to be Eddie Jones’ final match in charge.
Freeman started that clash on the right wing but he was hooked by Jones at half-time as the hosts struggled to get on the front foot.
‘Not the best feeling’
“That wasn’t the best feeling in the world,” he said.
“I got a tap on the shoulder, ‘you’re coming off’. We had a game plan to try and get the ball back and I wasn’t delivering that.
“First [match] at Twickenham with your family and friends who didn’t manage to come out to Australia [for my debut] and they’re all sat there watching. It was difficult.
“No one wants it to go that way. You heard stories before of things like that happening and it’s something you never want to happen to you.
“This opportunity is one to put it right, that’s definitely in the back of my mind at the moment.”