‘A pointless tour’, ‘Serious injuries waiting to happen’, ‘An embarrassment’. You won’t find many England fans, or rugby fans in general who has a good word to say about England’s Summer Tour to South Africa, and last week’s record loss at the hands of the Springboks added fuel to the fire. Nevertheless Brian Ashton and the squad in general won’t see it as a lost cause and will no doubt be desperate to leave South Africa with a decent share of credibility. If it was damage limitation last week though, I dread to think what it will be this Saturday.

Jonny Wilkinson will captain England in the second Test against South Africa on Saturday at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria after Jason Robinson was ruled out with a knee injury. A puzzling team selection by head coach Brian Ashton will do nothing however to brighten most England fan’s spirits.

In the front row, Stuart Turner is replaced by Bath player Matt Stevens, who hasn’t put on the white jersey for England since the 2006 Six Nations. It will be some much needed game time for him, especially with the World Cup so close. Yates remains at loosehead as does Regan at hooker after his decent performance last week.

Roy Winters comes in in place of Dean Schofield, and due to Hazell’s injury, Easter has been moved to blindside flanker with Lund at openside and new arrival Ben Skirving at number 8. Ashton revealed he is excited about seeing what the athletic Skirving can bring to the England side tomorrow.

"He is very athletic and we are hoping he can use that to good effect on Saturday," said Ashton.

"If he can get the ball in hand he has got great pace and a lot of go forward. We will certainly be looking for a more combative performance against their back row than we had last week."

The half backs and centre combination remain the same, and Dan Scarborough, another late arrival has been brought in to start on the wing due to the absence of the injured Ian Balshaw and James Simpson Daniel. Noon’s inclusion on the other wing in place of Robinson is perhaps the most puzzling of selections in the whole team. Many expected to see Noon line up in the centres with Newcastle team mate Matthew Tait, and Ashton certainly didn't rule out the possibility of seeing Noon appear in the centres.

"There may well be certain situations when you see him (Noon) appear in midfield," said Ashton with a wry smile.

Mike Brown has recovered from illness to once against start at full back.

South Africa coach Jake White has warned England his side will perform "much better" in the second Test in Pretoria on Saturday. South Africa have made three changes, with CJ van der Linde and Gurthro Steenkamp replacing BJ Botha and Deon Carstens in the front row and Akona Ndungane coming in for Ashwin Willemse on the wing.

Bobby Skinstad is in line for his first Test cap since coming out of retirement after being called onto South Africa's bench for Saturday's Test with England. Skinstad takes Pierre Spies' place among the replacements after Spies took flu victim Danie Rossouw's place at number eight in the starting XV.

Although a win is even more unlikely this week, as long as England put in a far better showing than they did in the first Test, all the players come through unscathed, this fan will be happy.

South Africa:

Montgomery; A Ndungane, Olivier, De Villiers, Habana; James, Januarie; Steenkamp, Smit (capt), Van der Linde, Botha, Matfield, Burger, Smith, Spies.
Replacements: Carstens, Botha, Muller, Skinstad, Pienaar, Steyn, Willemse.

England:

M Brown; Noon, Tait, Flood, Scarbrough; Wilkinson (capt), Gomarsall; Yates, Regan, Stevens, Winters, A Brown, Easter, Lund, Skirving.
Replacements: Titterrell, Turner, Schofield, Jones, Perry, Allen, Abendanon.

Date: Saturday, 2 June
Venue: Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
Kick-off: 15:00 (13:00 GMT)
Referee: Joël Jutge (France)
Touch judges: Steve Walsh (New Zealand), Malcolm Changleng (Scotland)
Television match official: Derek Bevan (Wales)

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