Easter's ultimate test

Easter was rescued by Richards from the anonymity of the First Division when the former England and Leicester star took over as director of rugby at Harlequins.

Richards saw in Easter the type of player he used to be; more interested in turning up for matches than turning out for training.

Easter now insists he has changed this attitude towards the training sessions that are such a mundane part of being an international player and claims he has learned from fellow World Cup players Jonny Wilkinson and Jason Robinson.

Easter, who has the unenviable task of replacing the iconic Lawrence Dallaglio in the No8 shirt against the Springboks, took a long, hard look at how he was preparing for matches during the two months spent with the England World Cup squad at their training quarters in Bath.

He said: "I thought I was being professional about the way I trained and the things I ate but I realised after spending time with Jonny and Jason and other players in the squad that I wasn't doing as much as I could.

"I lost weight by changing my diet, increased my strength with more gym sessions and just became more professional about everything."

It is a fact that within the England management there are those who still view Easter as a reluctant trainer and he does not have the type of muscle-toned physique of someone like Joe Worsley or Tom Rees.

However, what Easter brings to the squad is a ball-carrying ability reminiscent of Richards and now he must prove that he also has that dogged, hard-nosed, almost ruthless approach that marked his mentor out as a player to be feared by the opposition.

Four tries in the ludicrously easy warm-up victory over Wales at Twickenham guaranteed Easter a place in the World Cup squad but he was less evident and ultimately replaced in the final game in Marseilles against France.

That was when Easter needed to show Richards-like aggression and a refusal to take a backward step.

The jury is still out in terms of this aspect of Easter's play but there will be no hiding place against the Springboks, who are arguably the roughest, toughest bunch in world rugby. Easter knows what he is about to face, having been one of the few successes on England's ill-fated summer tour to South Africa, where a below-strength squad suffered two heavy beatings.

By dropping Dallaglio, England have taken away from the team a natural rallying point and their most experienced forward.

Easter has to now become the man to give England a "go forward" with the ball in hand, and rock-like defence, including the painful commitment to get on to the wrong side of rucks and mauls and suffer the inevitable consequences from the opposition. This was a feature of Richards's play, with him seemingly impervious to the boots, studs, elbows, knees and punches that were meant to convince him to get back on to his side of the ruck.

Thankfully for Easter, referees no longer allow boots to be put on bodies but the Springboks will still have the kitchen sink waiting for him.

Easter spent one year playing for the Villagers Club in Cape Town early in his rugby life.

Now comes the ultimate test of the 29-year-old, who must step out of the shadow of Richards and into the harsh spotlight of Test rugby at its most brutal.