Woodward has no doubts over selection of Christophers

Jason Leonard, proud owner of 98 England caps and looking forward to a 99th when the Springboks come knocking on Twickenham's door this weekend, received his MBE at Buckingham Palace yesterday. (The sight of two fantastically gruesome cauliflower ears put the tin lid on a fairly rough month for his hostess, for they are not a pretty sight at the best of times, let alone within an hour or so of the royal breakfast). Yet the real joy was felt by Phil Christophers, who has made precisely 97 fewer international appearances than the Harlequins prop.

The 22-year-old Bristol wing survived hot competition from two Leicester backs, Austin Healey and Tim Stimpson, to replace James Simpson-Daniel, who beat him to a starting spot against New Zealand and Australia over the last couple of weeks but is now suffering from glandular fever. As Christophers is a specialist left wing, Ben Cohen has been shifted the width of the pitch and will start on the right. Otherwise, England go in with the formation that did for the Wallabies, albeit by a single point, last Saturday.

Christophers is armed with a sharp mind – certainly, he is bright enough not to be carried away by one illness-induced call-up. "I think we need a reality check here," he said, a few minutes after learning of Clive Woodward's decision. "I'm playing because James has dropped out. There are others missing, too: Dan Luger and Iain Balshaw, for instance, two proven international performers. Hopefully, I can use this opportunity to make up some ground on these people; I will try my best and play my hardest. But I know I have a lot of work ahead of me."

Actually, Christophers is further up the England food chain than he realises. "We almost picked him for the All Blacks game," said Woodward, the England manager. "It was the tightest of calls, but we went for James after a lot of thought. There was nowhere near the same amount of thought this time – no real discussion at all, in fact – because Phil was very much in our minds from the start of the autumn series. He is an intelligent young player who did particularly well for us in Argentina during the summer, and I'm keen to see him face up to a side of the Springboks' class."

Talking of which, Woodward played the most predictable of hands in assessing the threat posed by tourists who suffered a record defeat in France on 9 November before being double-whammied by the Scots at Murrayfield last weekend. "I have nothing but respect for South African rugby," proclaimed the manager, "especially when the Boks are in a corner. Their back division is genuinely scary when it catches fire."

Nowhere near as scary as their last two performances, however, and the fact that Woodward passed up the opportunity to try out a new combination or two may ultimately be seen as a piece of misplaced selectorial conservatism. With Lawrence Dallaglio out of form, England might easily have included the Gloucester flanker, James Forrester, among their replacements. They might also have started with Robbie Morris, the uncapped Northampton tight head, in their front row, although Morris is at least in the 22.

Woodward also resisted any temptation to restore Jason Robinson to the wing role he performed with such blinding success for the Lions in Australia last year. Is the manager convinced he is playing the celebrated cross-coder in his optimum position? "As far as this week is concerned, absolutely," he replied. "I think people get too hung up on this positional thing. I'm just happy to have him on the pitch, frankly. Jason provides a counter-attacking threat unique to English rugby.

"Anyway, I keep telling everyone that these matches are not about experimentation. Yes, young players like Simpson-Daniel and Lewis Moody have made an impact, but they were selected on merit, not simply because I was interested in having a look at them.

"We have an established group of élite players now, and we have a very competitive environment that has generated significant changes in our starting line-up without those changes being in any way experimental. Players cannot afford a weak game, because it will cost them their place in the next one. That is the way we're operating."

South Africa, short of a dozen or more prime contenders for World Cup duty in a year's time, are in a different situation, as Woodward acknowledged. But they quietly fancy their chances on Saturday. As Tim Lane, their assistant coach, said yesterday: "Had Ben Blair [the All Black full-back] scored a try when he had the chance, and Matthew Burke [the Wallaby full-back] kicked that last penalty at the weekend, we might be reading about English rugby being in crisis." Very true.

ENGLAND TEAM

(v South Africa, Twickenham, Saturday): J Robinson (Sale); B Cohen (Northampton), W Greenwood (Harlequins), M Tindall (Bath), P Christophers (Bristol), J Wilkinson (Newcastle), M Dawson (Northampton); J Leonard (Harlequins), S Thompson (Northampton), P Vickery (Gloucester), M Johnson (Leicester, capt), B Kay (Leicester), L Moody (Leicester), N Back (Leicester), R Hill (Saracens).

Replacements: M Regan (Leeds), R Morris (Northampton), D Grewcock (Bath), L Dallaglio (Wasps), A Gomarsall (Gloucester), A Healey (Leicester), T Stimpson (Leicester).