Johannesburg — SPRINGBOK coach Peter de Villiers' mounting list of possible excuses as to why his team might battle against England in their final tour match at Twickenham tomorrow, grew yesterday with two key players being ruled out.

Hard-working flank Juan Smith, a silent assassin on the field, failed to recover from a blow to his head suffered during the team's 14-10 win against Scotland last week and star scrumhalf Fourie du Preez is still nursing the quadriceps injury that forced him out of last week's game.

De Villiers has already cited the cold and wet conditions and mental and physical fatigue, as factors that could count against them this weekend, so that news does not bode well for his team, particularly after scraping through victories against Wales and Scotland.

A blessing for the Boks though, is that the injury bogey hit England's camp yesterday, with star loosehead prop Andrew Sheridan ruled out through a neck injury. Hi s replacement is Tim Payne.

Apart from being fresh, England will have the extra motivation of avenging last year's 15-6 Rugby World Cup final defeat against SA.

History also favours England, as SA have won only one of their past seven outings at Twickenham. While a victory for the home team would not erase the painful memories of Stade de France last year, it would give England the confidence boost they need to become a force to be reckoned with, under manager Martin Johnson.

All of which sets the scene for a thrilling match tomorrow.

Physical Bulls utility forward Danie Rossouw will replace Smith at flank, with scrumhalf Ricky Januarie retaining the No9 jersey.

Rossouw's inclusion is one of two changes to the side that beat Scotland, with prop Jannie du Plessis filling the void left by the absence of his injured brother, hooker Bismarck du Plessis.

As expected, Bok captain John Smit has moved from tighthead prop to hooker, with Du Plessis getting the nod over Brian Mujati, who failed to impress in the scrums last week. With England's pack posing one of the greatest threats and the importance of winning quality first-phase possession, essential to keep alive hopes of returning home from tour unbeaten, De Villiers' made the right decision to select the more powerful Du Plessis over Mujati.

Another notable inclusion is talented Cheetahs flank Heinrich Brussow, who could make his debut off the bench.

De Villiers tried hard to snap underdog status ahead of the game and said in his column on www.sarugby.co.za: "It will not be easy. We will face an England side that is full of talent and that will be determined to bounce back, after their loss to Australia. They will also have the benefit of home ground advantage.

"We have to go there and play to our potential. Every player knows what he is capable of and has to pull his weight."

Johnson meanwhile, called for his team to front up physically against the Springboks and play "smarter rugby", after succumbing 28-14 to the Wallabies last week.

Despite being comprehensively outplayed in the scrums against Australia, Johnson was confident things would go better in the important set piece this weekend.

"The scrummage never really happened against Australia" DE Villiers said. "Every scrum was on the floor. We lost two balls because we were caught unawares, when it didn't go down. Against SA, the scrum will be in the air a lot more." With Sapa-AFP

TEAMS

Springboks: Conrad Jantjes, JP Pietersen, Adrian Jacobs, Jean de Villiers, Bryan Habana, Ruan Pienaar, Ricky Januarie, Pierre Spies, Danie Rossouw, Schalk Burger, Victor Matfield, Bakkies Botha, Jannie du Plessis, John Smit (capt), Beast Mtawarira.

Reserves: Chiliboy Ralepelle, Brian Mujati, Andries Bekker, Ryan Kankowski, Heinrich Brussow, Frans Steyn, Jaque Fourie.

England: Delon Armitage; Paul Sackey, Jamie Noon, Riki Flutey, Ugo Monye, Danny Cipriani, Danny Care, Nick Easter, Tom Rees, James Haskell, Tom Palmer, Steve Borthwick (capt), Phil Vickery, Lee Mears, Tim Payne.

Reserves: Dylan Hartley, Matt Stevens, Simon Shaw, Tom Croft, Jordan Crane, Harry Ellis, Toby Flood.