Marcus Smith says England are flying south determined to make a fast and furious start to the new Nations Championship at South Africa’s expense next week. A 36-man squad will touch down in Johannesburg on Thursday and Smith says there is a shared desire to rise to the high-altitude challenge of upsetting the world champions in their backyard.

England have been training in oxygen masks in Bagshot to prepare themselves for the Highveldt and, with games against Fiji and Argentina to follow, are conscious of the need to make an early impression against the Springboks. “It’s one shot,” said Smith, who has now played 50 Tests for his country. “We’ve spoken about leaving it all out there. It’s a hell of an opportunity. I don’t think England have been there since 2018 so we could create history, going down there to deliver a result.

“English teams and boys have had success down in South Africa with their club sides, so we will try to pool that knowledge and information to make sure we’re best prepared. We know that if we want to be [in the finals] we’ve got to start fast and start well. I guess there’s no bigger test than South Africa in Johannesburg. They’ve been leading the way in world rugby for a few years now but it’s a challenge we’re definitely up for.”

Smith, who featured on the 2021 British & Irish Lions tour in South Africa, says England are also aware it will be an uphill struggle to recover from a poor start given the structure of the new tournament, which has replaced the traditional tour structure. The defence coach Richard Wigglesworth has made clear, however, that England will not be using their fiendish travel itinerary as an excuse.

“We have a massive challenge but you can either see it as a massive hindrance or something really exciting that none of the other teams have to do,” said Wigglesworth. “We’re going to get stuck into that.

“They’re long flights but we’re lying down for most of it. There’s people doing far worse things. We’ll get on with it and rip into the exciting part of the challenge. It puts you in good stead for your resilience. That can’t be an excuse for us. We have to hit the ground running.”

Among other hurdles in their way is the presence in the Springbok coaching set-up of Felix Jones and analyst Joe Lewis, both former Rugby Football Union employees. Wigglesworth declined to reveal whether England have been forced to change their tactical calls – “Knowing Joe as I do, I definitely don’t want to say if I’ve taken any measures or not” – but suggested it would not determine the game’s outcome. “I think you could sit and overthink it or carry on and go, ‘What are we going to do?’ We’ve chosen that approach.”

South Africa’s head coach, Rassie Erasmus, meanwhile, says the Boks will be respectful of their opponents. “The England squad is good – their average age is about 27, and Test caps around 32, so it’s a young yet experienced squad,” said Erasmus.

“There are a few older players in their 30s, which brings the experience, but the young guys will add fearlessness into a team that was in the 2023 World Cup semi-final and who have competed really well off the back of the Premiership. It’s a very competitive squad and we know we’ll have to work really hard at Ellis Park next week if we want to get a win.”

He also offered words of welcome to England‘s young flanker Henry Pollock, who has already caught the eye of the South African public. “He’s like Siya Kolisi. People make a big deal about certain players but I don’t always think the players themselves want that attention. What counts is what they do on the field and recently, he’s been doing that. If I were coaching him, I’d only look at his output, and that has been exceptional.”