International / Ralph Ellis / 18 November 2008 / Leave a comment

After his side's narrow victroy over Scotland, Peter de Villiers claims that South Africa are suffering from psychological fatigue. Meanwhile, Martin Johnson is adding some weight to his squad as he aims to get England back on track, writes Ralph Ellis.

Top managers quickly learn that what you say in public before a game is almost as important as what you tell your team in private. Start bragging about your own potential, or belittling the opposition, and it will come back to bite you. Many a winning team have told the tale of how they've stuck disrespectful pre-match headlines on the notice board as motivation. Equally you need to give the world a message of confidence in your own players. It's a fine balance.

So what is Peter de Villiers doing today? South Africa's rugby coach has been telling the world what a good side England are - and that his own players are in a state of "psychological fatigue" after nine months on the rugby treadmill. The 51-year-old came up with that as the reason for a fairly unimpressive performance in their 14-10 win over Scotland at the weekend, and their equally halting display Wales in Cardiff the week before.

"The year's just gone on and on and on - and I'm glad it's coming to an end," he tells this morning's papers. "The players' bodies are not that fatigued, but the psychological fatigue that nobody sees is playing a role now. Five days more and I can go back to my family. That is taking its toll."

It's hardly inspiring talk, and just to add to his doom and gloom, he has also had to send for new players after losing two of his front row forwards, with hooker Bismarck du Plessis and prop Gurthro Steenkamp out because of a torn hamstring and damaged ankle respectively.

De Villiers also has a different view of England's performance against Australia to the rest of the rugby community. "I thought there were some excellent things about them, and although they gave away some bad points early on they showed that Martin Johnson is taking them in the right direction," he said.

Now here comes the decision. Is South Africa's coach being cute and making sure he doesn't wind up England by being so respectfull to Johnson and his men? Is he trying to lull his opponents into a false sense of security? Or is he genuine in his fears that his team are running out of steam?

I'm tempted to go for the latter and back an England win at [2.24] because the South Africans don't have the form to justify an odds-on price of [1.86]. It's also worth noting that Martin Johnson's team had their problems at Twickenham on Saturday against Australia because they gave away penalties rather than were cut apart by tries. Those are problems that can be put right with a week's training and attention to videos.

Johnson is also going to beef up his forwards when he names his team today, according to the Daily Mail's Peter Jackson, who reveals this morning that 18 stone James Haskell is going to make his first start. That's another sign that England can get their scrummaging right and give better ball to the backs to start to play.

Johnno is facing his first big test in how he can bounce back from a defeat. He's due to do his bit of talking about his team today - watch to see how well he gets his message over.

Five things you might not know about Peter de Villiers

1. Born in Eastern Cape province in 1957, he played scrum half for Boland and Griquas during the apartheid era so couldn't be picked for his country

2. He started coaching with amateur club Tygerberg in 1996, and two years later was asked to lead South Africa's Under 19 side

3. Promoted to the Under-21 side, he won the Rugby World Cup at that age level in 2005 which led to him getting the job of replacing 2007 World Cup winner Jake White

4. His appointment as the country's first black coach was still highly controversial - it got through the South African Rugby Union board by 10 votes to nine.

5. He twice threatened to quit until his contract gave him the same pay as his predecessor and the right to pick the team.