Eddie braces for Bok ‘bullies’

England coach Eddie Jones expects a physical contest against the Springboks at Twickenham on 12 November.

The Boks are unbeaten in their last 12 Tests against England, with 11 wins and a draw. England's last win came in 2006, when they edged Jake White's Boks 23-21.

Jones has transformed England since taking over earlier this year, coaching them to the Six Nations Grand Slam and a 3-0 series win in Australia.

England's next test will be provided by the Boks on their end-of-year tour.

'We'll certainly pick our strongest team to play South Africa and will then take it from there,' Jones told BT Sport's Rugby Tonight. 'We haven't beaten South Africa since 2006. You know what they are like – they are just bullies, so there's a big task for the first 23.'

Jones believes that a factor in England's success has been the growing professionalism of the Premiership clubs.

'Having been in South Africa for a couple of weeks and seen how the Super Rugby sides operate there and having coached in Australia, you can see the clubs here are so professionally set up.

'The quality and quantity of the coaching staff and facilities are outstanding and I believe that is starting to be replicated in the standard of play.'

Photo: David Rogers/Getty Images

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