| Home team | Sprignboks |
| Away team | England |
| Venue | Ellis Park |
| Competition | Rugby Nations Championship |
| Kick-off time | 4:40 pm (UK and Ireland) |
| Watch Live in the UK | ITV |
Springboks vs England Rugby Nations Championship preview as the teams meet in the first round of the new competition.
The Springboks are looking to build towards their third World Cup win in a row, having also had a successful Autumn Nations Series in November.
England had one of their most disappointing Six Nations ever, losing to Italy for the first time and ending with only one win, which came in the opener against Wales. They finished with a much better performance against France, where it took a last-minute kick from Thomas Ramos to win the game.
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Springboks vs England confirmed lineups
| Springboks | England | ||||
| Forwards | |||||
| Nche | 1 | Genge | |||
| Marx | 2 | George | |||
| Thomas Du Toit | 3 | Heyes | |||
| Etzebeth | 4 | Coles | |||
| Nortje | 5 | Martin | |||
| Kolisi | 6 | Chessum | |||
| Pieter-Steph du Toit | 7 | T Curry | |||
| Wiese | 8 | Earl | |||
| Backs | |||||
| Williams | 9 | Van Poortvliet | |||
| Libbok | 10 | F Smith | |||
| Arendse | 11 | Murley | |||
| De Allende | 12 | S Atkinson | |||
| Kriel | 13 | Freeman | |||
| Kolbe | 14 | Feyi-Waboso | |||
| Willemse | 15 | Furbank | |||
| Replacements | |||||
| Wessels | 16 | Cowan-Dickie | |||
| Steenekamp | 17 | Obano | |||
| Porthen | 18 | Opoku-Fordjour | |||
| Van Staden | 19 | Ewels | |||
| Hanekom | 20 | Pepper | |||
| Reinach | 21 | Pollock | |||
| Esterhuizen | 22 | Mitchell | |||
| Moodie | 23 | M Smith | |||
Recent Form:
Springboks (Home team):
| Result | Date | Competition | Opponent | Score |
| Won | 20th June 2026 | Friendly | Barbarians | 80-31 |
| Won | 29th November 2026 | Friendly | Wales | 0-73 |
| Won | 22nd November 2026 | Friendly | Ireland | 13-24 |
| Won | 15th November 2026 | Friendly | Italy | 14-32 |
| Won | 8th November 2026 | Friendly | France | 17-32 |
In the 30 games that the Springboks have played since they won the 2023 World Cup, they have only lost four. Two came in the 2025 Rugby Championship. They started the 2026 season with a huge win over the Barbarians, with plenty of rotation in the squad as the Bulls were still recovering from the URC Final.
England (Away team):
| Result | Date | Competition | Opponent | Score |
| Loss | 14th March 2026 | Six Nations | France | 48-46 |
| Loss | 7th March 2026 | Six Nations | Italy | 23-18 |
| Loss | 21st February 2026 | Six Nations | Ireland | 21-42 |
| Loss | 14th February 2026 | Six Nations | Scotland | 31-20 |
| Won | 7th February 2026 | Six Nations | Wales | 48-7 |
England finished the Six Nations on a relative high note with a very positive performance against the Six Nations winner, France. It took a cool boot from Thomas Ramos to win the game for France and the points that were needed to win the title. The week before they had lost to Italy for the first time and had been embarrassed at home by Ireland in round three. Their only win of the tournament came in the opener against Wales, where they won 48-7 against the team that would finish bottom in the competition.
Springboks vs England head-to-head record (last five matches):
| Date | Competition | Winner | Score |
| 16th November 2024 | Friendly | South Africa | 20-29 |
| 21st October 2023 | World Cup semi-final | South Africa | 15-16 |
| 26th October 2022 | Friendly | South Africa | 13-27 |
| 20th November 2021 | Friendly | England | 27-26 |
| 2nd November 2019 | World Cup Final | South Africa | 12-32 |
The Springboks have won the last three meetings between the teams, and England have only won four times against the Springboks in South Africa in the professional era. The teams have met late in the last two World Cups, with the Springboks winning over England in the semi-final in 2023 on their way to the Webb-Ellis Trophy and beating the English in the final in 2019.
