Eddie Jones says England will look to copy Muhammad Ali by using “rope-a-dope” tactics to outwit South Africa at Twickenham on Saturday. The Springboks have not lost to their hosts for 10 years and Jones believes the key to a different outcome will be their ability to outsmart their opponents tactically.

As ever the Boks will be fielding their largest available pack and Jones is determined not to fall into the trap of playing the visitors’ preferred game. “Playing against a physically aggressive side, you’ve got to play smart,” said Jones, having named a starting lineup containing six changes from the side that wrapped up a 3-0 series win over Australia in June. “We’re not shying away from the physical side of the game but, when Muhammad Ali fought George Foreman, he had to find other ways of getting around him. If he went toe-to-toe with him he was going to lose.

“We don’t want to go toe-to-toe with them because that’s what they want. Why would we do that? Have South Africa ever changed? They never change. They’re a very structured side. They play the game like a physical game of chess, like chess with steroids. They know exactly where they want to go and they do it with force. So we’ve got to be good at not allowing them to win the ball in the right places; then, secondly, not allowing them to get momentum. It’s almost the opposite game you play against New Zealand. Against New Zealand you want to keep your game as structured as possible. Against South Africa you want to keep the game unstructured.”

Jones should know, having masterminded Japan’s sensational Rugby World Cup victory over the Springboks in Brighton last year. Matching South Africa physically, in his view, is barely half the battle. “I think it’s funny when people say this is a big physical challenge. I said to the players: ‘If you’re not physical in rugby you should be playing volleyball or curling.’ We knew they were going to pick a mammoth back row. You think they were going to come to Twickenham with a small forward pack? But there are ways to get to South Africa and I think we’ll be smart enough to get to them on Saturday.”

As well as preferring Wasps’ Elliot Daly at outside-centre ahead of Jonathan Joseph for the first time, England have reunited the back row of Chris Robshaw, Tom Wood and Billy Vunipola who last featured together under Stuart Lancaster in the fateful 2015 World Cup pool defeat by Wales. Jones, however, feels England are now in a different place mentally after a sequence of 10 successive victories.

“We want to change the history of results between England and South Africa,” he said, suggesting England were starting to gather genuine momentum. “We’re not sprinting yet but we’re definitely walking in the right direction. We’re an ambitious team. We want to be the No1 team in the world. This game against South Africa is another step forward.”