No plans to protect Wilko

Crown jewel: Jonny Wilkinson

Lawrence Dallaglio today admitted England do not have a plan to shield Jonny Wilkinson from the Springboks during Saturday's crucial World Cup Group C showdown in Perth.

While this will concern England fans, who know that Wilkinson's boot is a match-winner, Dallaglio insists the Newcastle outside-half can look after himself.

Dallaglio takes this stance despite the South Africans' foul play during their 53-3 defeat by England at Twickenham in November when lock Jannes Labuschagne was sent off for a late tackle on Wilkinson, who was later forced off with a shoulder injury which sidelined him for six weeks.

Dallaglio said: "The way that Jonny tackles means he has the best form of protection any outside-half could want.

"Trying to get to the No10 - legally - is a key part of the game and Jonny understands that and knows what he has to do to have an effect on the game.

"The No10 is the key player in any team and a natural focus of attention for the opposition and Louis Koen is the same for the Springboks - he is pivotal to what they try to do on the pitch.

"If you examine how South Africa have played in the last two years then, along with scrum-half Joost van der Westhuizen, Koen is key to their game plan."

Leading the Wilkinson hunt will be Corne Krige, the South African captain and flanker, who committed numerous acts of foul play at Twickenham and yesterday claimed he would not repeat the performance.

Dallaglio expects the South Africans to play hard but fair rugby and believes they have learnt a painful lesson from that big defeat in November.

He said: "Corne Krige was frustrated at Twickenham because he was leading a tour that wasn't particularly going very well and by the time they faced us they were a fairly depleted squad and had lost to Scotland.

"However, if you look at the team that appeared at Twickenham and the one that we will face on Saturday - there are only going to be three survivors - then we know it's going to be very different.

"Self-discipline is something that we talk about a lot and while we want to be physical and tough, we have to stay within the laws and our management make us very aware of this. Teams like France have realised that you cannot win matches at the highest level if you don't have discipline throughout the whole team. Those teams that don't run the risk of losing matches.

"We have definitely got confidence and momentum coming into this World Cup but we know that if we are not physical and play tough then we won't win this match.

"We have been in some situations since the 1999 World Cup - good and bad - that have given the team strength and we are going to need all of that to come through this match against the Springboks."

England's fans - around 10,000 are expected at the match - will be hoping Dallaglio's confidence is well-placed. If he is wrong then England will lose and face a much tougher assignment - the All Blacks, rather than Wales, in the quarter-finals.

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