Johnno's right to stick to young guns

Martin Johnson has decided to throw everything at the South Africans tomorrow because New Zealand, who come to Twickenham next weekend, are the greatest challenge his team will face.

Therefore, he has targeted the South Africa game as the one England can win. I'm not suggesting they are going to lie down in front of the All Blacks but what Johnno is doing is very practical.

It is the brave decision and the right thing for England. Since New Zealand are the best team on the planet, Johnno has kept the majority of the side together for this match with the Springboks.

Johnno is using his best players and if they don't shape up then changes can be made for the final match against the All Blacks. I don't buy into the idea that the Springboks are tired and will struggle to get up for this match.

This is a cup final for them and they are the world champions. While they haven't played well on this tour, they have still been winning and now they have a chance to finish well.

The Springboks are playing mind games because they will be wary of an England team that lost to Australia. They will be expecting to face some kind of backlash and their words are aimed to take the sting out of what England do.

This is a young England side and I do get annoyed when I hear people talk about us being in a period of transition. That has been the case since the 2003 World Cup win and there have been a huge number of new caps handed out in the last five years. Johnno has decided it's time for continuity. He wants to give this side time to gel because they are young guys.

Australia didn't allow England to scrummage the way they wanted to and, while our forwards learned the lessons, it happened too late to affect the result. South Africa will be totally different in the scrums and will not spend as much time on the floor as the Wallabies.

Tomorrow, we are going to witness a man-on-man battle. Both front rows will go for it and the loss of Andrew Sheridan is a big blow for us.

On a different subject, I was very unhappy with the booing when Australian players were kicking at goal last weekend. There will be a call for silence against South Africa and maybe there were fans who weren't used to rugby occasions.

However, if I'm sitting next to someone who boos when any player is taking a kick then I will, in no uncertain terms, tell them to be quiet. It's tough enough on the pitch already without people in the crowd booing.