Schalk Burger: Why wholesale changes worked for Springboks but not England
Dejection of Fin Smith and Tommy Freeman with an inset of Springboks legend Schalk Burger.
Schalk Burger questions whether Steve Borthwick can survive a fourth straight defeat after a historic loss to Italy.
The Springboks great believes that England have got too far ahead of themselves in terms of their evolution after winning 12 Tests on the trot before a hat-trick of losses in the Six Nations.
After beating Wales in round one of the Championship, Borthwick stuck with largely the same team for the clashes with Scotland and Ireland, but were beaten in both encounters.
Panicked performance
He then made wholesale changes, including an entirely new backline for the round four clash against Italy, which did not change the end result as they fell to a first-ever loss at the hands of the Azzurri.
England were ‘disjointed’ in attack and defence according to the former flanker, which was unsurprising considering the plethora of alternations which Burger believes was a reactionary call following the two prior results.
“There was panic in the week,” the former World Rugby Player of the Year said on the Verdict podcast.
“It started with what Borthwick said: ‘We’re going back to type’, but then also changing Ben Spencer, Atkinson, Freeman, Murley, Roebuck came back, Elliot Daly and those other guys were dropped because of what happened against Scotland and Ireland.
“So they were dropped out of the 23 because of a lack of form.”
The former Saracen was also puzzled by Borthwick’s reluctance to turn to his bench in the second half, particularly when England were in the lead.
“Then the POM squad never came up. Like they lost Curry in the warm-up, Underhill gets promoted,” he continued.
“Cunningham-South comes in. But still, you pick the 6-2 split to bring them on early. We’re thinking 50 minutes or when they’re 18 points, 10 up, drive that advantage home.
“Panicky performance by England, and the problem for them is they go to Paris, and I think if France had a good performance against Scotland, then maybe… But now, you’ve got no chance.”
Credit to Italy and why the Springboks can make changes weekly
Fellow former Springboks legend Jean de Villiers didn’t want the conversation to fall too far into how England were poor, giving the Azzurri their flowers. The duo praised Italian midfielder and man of the match Tommaso Menoncello for his performance, scoring a cracking solo try before playing a pivotal role in the match-winner.
“Let’s again give credit to Italy, we did speak about it last week, we said how much they have improved in all facets of play,” De Villiers said.
“England have been dominant from a scrummaging point of view, but suddenly Italy comes with a solid scrum against them. So tough at the breakdown. Then the flair that they have in their backline, good in the kicking game, good in the air. So they won that battle. They won the battle on the ground and then took opportunities with X-factor players like Menoncello. The Garbisi brothers did well in terms of decision-making at 9 and 10.
“Italy have a great team currently.”
Looking at some of the positives for England, Burger singled out England number eight Ben Earl, who earned his 50th Test cap for his country in the defeat.
“Any good for England? I think Ben Earl was good again,” he said.
“Then their two tries, Fin Smith stepping back, going against the grain, finding Roebuck with a perfect kick. And then a little Northampton 1,2,3 between Smith, Coles and Freeman. But it was a nervy performance, and you can see it. Also, like we go through the changes and then go, ‘Okay, but like we look disjointed’. Of course you’re going to look disjointed.”
Throughout 2025, Rassie Erasmus regularly made wholesale changes to his Springboks team from week to week and still managed to get results, losing just twice – first to Australia at Ellis Park before falling to New Zealand at Eden Park.
While De Villiers says that Erasmus’ ability to make alterations whilst still winning is a ‘reflection on the depth’, Burger argues that the Bok head coach made changes in a different scenario.
“The players aren’t not selected because of a lack of form or poor performance. It’s part of the plan,” he explained.
“All 35 or 40 players think they can play on the weekend. It’s not that you’re getting shunted out or dropped because of your performance or lack of form, and then you get put back in to try and rectify it.”
France’s gorgeous jersey to create an unwatchable kit clash against England on Super Saturday
England got too far ahead of themselves
De Villiers added: “If you know two weeks in advance or whatever that you’re going to play that weekend, and you get time on the pitch together in training, I think that is what makes a difference as well.
“It seems like the Boks get that right more than not. Even though there are changes on a weekly basis, you know the group that eventually plays gets a hell of a lot of time together on the pitch, and everyone’s on the same page.
“Whereas you could just see the lack or the drop in quality this weekend from England.”
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Burger believes that after England won 12 successive victories, they attempted to evolve their game, but they fell into the same trap that the Springboks did last year, as they got too carried away with themselves.
“Look, the scrum was dominant against Italy, which we thought might not happen. That’s another positive, but yeah, the question is, can Borthwick survive four in a row?” he said.
“If you look at those 12 performances, a lot of them were desperation, good set pieces, conservative game, get in the right areas, put sides under pressure for a long, long time and get a result. To where you start evolving too quickly for your own good, the Springboks were there with their loss against Australia in Ellis Park last year, you get ahead of yourself.
“Now they’re between a rock and a hard place, where maybe this week they wanted to go back to type, but then you don’t quite have the consistency in your selection to go do that.”
