Wells - Pack will not fold

Bristol hooker Mark Regan, recalled to the Test arena four months after his 35th birthday, is the senior England forward on view while his colleagues - Nick Wood, Stuart Turner, Dean Schofield, Alex Brown, Chris Jones, Andy Hazell and Nick Easter - have just 20 caps between them.

The Springboks will field six players in their pack from Super 14 finalists the Sharks and Bulls and assistant coach Wells said: "We all know it is going to be a tremendous challenge, and all the players know what is coming. They will give it their best shot. We need to get stuck in and go at them. That is the challenge facing us."

He added: "Last autumn, we struggled to impose ourselves on a South African pack that was, in effect, missing five key members. They have got some superb resources in their forwards, with enormous strength in depth.

"But our guys have trained tremendously hard. I cannot ask any more of them and, if they perform to their levels, we can make life tough for South Africa."

It could quickly develop into one of Test rugby's most horrible mismatches, with most pundits believing a severely-depleted England squad is on a hiding to nothing after travelling minus a huge contingent involved in European finals for Leicester, Wasps and Bath last weekend.

While there are considerable reservations about England's pack, the tourists will be far stronger behind the scrum unless a stomach virus continues leaving its mark.

Head coach Brian Ashton lost Harlequins wing David Strettle from his plans on Thursday, and the squad flew to Bloemfontein on Friday playing a waiting game regarding centre Andy Farrell.

Strettle was hospitalised after being hit by the virus that has affected a handful of England players, including fly-half Jonny Wilkinson.

Gloucester back Iain Balshaw will replace Strettle and win his 30th cap, with the bench vacancy caused by his promotion to be filled after the squad train at Vodacom Park on Friday afternoon.