GIVE THEM nothing. That applies especially to the way England handle Bryan Habana, the Springbok left-wing, who is one of the most dangerous strike runners in the world. Habana is no Jonah Lomu – for starters he is about five inches shorter and five stone lighter – but England still need to plan how to shut him down, because he is probably the quickest man in the tournament, and if they play into his hands in their Pool A encounter on Friday night his sheer pace will hurt them. However, Habana’s speed is both his strength and his weakness.

Up until now Habana has made his name mainly as a runner-in of overlaps and interceptions but, with the recruitment of former Australia coach Eddie Jones to the Springbok camp as skills-backs coach in the build-up to the World Cup, there are clear signs that the South Africans want to bring their star sprinter into play as much as possible.

The most obvious illustration of this was the try Habana scored in the warm-up against Scotland a couple of weeks ago when he burst clean through after being fed straight from a midfield scrum.

Jones is shrewd in the play-making department and, given enough time, he is a coach who can teach Habana and the South African backs the sort of precision moves we have seen from Australian backs for as long as anyone can remember. It will be touch and go, and I have serious doubts that he has had the time necessary to transform guys raised in a culture of one-dimensional, unimaginative, brutally direct back play in a few weeks.

He can sweet-talk Habana and his mates and tell them that they are the most underrated, talented backs on the planet – and he is smart enough to try to build confidence in that way – but it is still crash-course stuff.

Put it like this: if you revise for an exam for a day, even as a star pupil, you are going to have much less chance of passing it than if you had been swotting for six months.

Habana’s home territory is looking for interception tries by, for example, picking off Mike Catt’s long passes, and lurking out wide to finish off any turnover opportunities created by South Africa’s blitz defence.

However, under Jones’s direction, England should expect to see a lot more of Habana, not only as a strike runner coming into the line but also as a decoy to attract defenders away from where they will make their main thrust.

The danger for South Africa is that while Habana is an instinctive player with great natural sprinting ability, he is not used to being the focal point of a back-line, and although he is a bright guy, Jones’s playbook rules could confuse him.

England need to make the most of any signs of confusion and pile the pressure on Habana, turning him from a point of strength into one of weakness. If Josh Lewsey is opposite him, he needs to deliver the same sort of welcoming rib-tickler that left Australia’s Mat Rogers in a heap a few years ago. The fact that Habana often tucks the ball under his right arm, rather than his left, denying himself the chance to fend off opponents, means that he could be turned over and present England with chances down the touchline.

Players with great pace often lack concentration, mainly because they are used to their speed getting them out of tight spots, and Habana is no different. So, when he takes his eyes off the ball, England must pounce, especially if he comes up too fast looking for an interception and presents them with a dog-leg in the Bok defence.

Someone like Catt has the guile to take the gap and make him pay the price, but only if England succeed in getting support-runners on his shoulder.

What the England backs must not do, under any circumstances, is kick the ball down Habana’s throat. Giving the ball to the best broken-field runner on the pitch with 20 metres to move in is brain-dead, and on recent evidence England’s kicking needs to improve hugely.

It needs pinpoint execution, and the kick-chasing – which has also been poor – needs to be much sharper, with the first tackler getting hold of him, even if it is by the bootlaces.

Lewsey, or whoever is marking Habana, has to be in his face, and must not shadow-tackle or turn his back, because he will be gone. If the Boks try to chip or grubber-kick behind the English line for Habana to chase, then the full-back – probably Mark Cueto – has to be ready. The English back three must work as a unit and protect each other.

The one thing that is obvious is that England cannot afford to risk loose passes and kicks with Habana opposite. However, if they are careful not to play into Habana’s hands with speculative passes, he might just play into theirs.

Jeremy Guscott won 65 caps for England between 1989 and 1999