Schalk Burger is not your ordinary blindside flanker, far from it. Acclaimed the IRB International Player of the Year in 2004, the blond trailblazer of the South African pack seemed set for greatness until a career-threatening knee injury the next season. Your average player might travel halfway around the world to see a specialist, not Burger. Asked last week about his period of rehabilitation, he said: “I ate a lot of meat and drank red wine, which is what we do in South Africa.”

The Republic also breeds exceptional back-row forwards, with Burger the latest in a long line. As polite off the field as he is ferocious on it, he is fêted here in France as one of the headline acts. At an open training session on Wednesday, it was he and Bryan Habana who drew the collective gasps of the kids. The world, it seems, loves the man and is his for the conquering.

Yet Peter Winterbottom, England’s finest seven of modern times, is not so sure, and when Winterbottom has doubts concerning the back row it is best to listen. I remember his quiet reservations back in Burger’s 2004 breakthrough year: “He’ll really be something special when he works out when to commit himself to the breakdown and when not.” Three years on and the reservations still exist. “I don’t see a great deal of change in his game. He overplays the carries and overcommits. He remains instinctively more a blindside than openside. Sure, he will bash people but he often doesn’t get it right when it comes to going into the breakdown to win ball.”

When Winterbottom describes him as “overcarrying” he is referring to his constant habit of charging into opposition jerseys with the ball tucked under his arm. Strong as an ox, he breaks more tackles than any seven on the planet but there is not much return in the way of quick ball when he is brought to ground. If he develops an offload to match his rampaging charges, the Springboks will be next to unstoppable on the front foot. As for his decision-making at the breakdown, the problem is paradoxically magnified by the muscle of the South African front five. Frequently they hammer into these contacts in substantial numbers and if Burger smashes into the melee on the odd forlorn occasion when the opposition has already secured possession, the Springboks are prone to being caught on the turnover.

If Winterbottom sees a chink of light in the decision-making of the blond giant, the door slams quickly shut when he assesses Juan Smith, Burger’s mate on the other flank. “Smith, he’s a really talented guy who can play anywhere in the back row. He’s a threat at the lineout, too.”

Most critics believe that had illness not forced the withdrawal of Pierre Spies, the dashing young forward would have filled the space at eight between the flanks. Winterbottom wonders: “How big a loss is Spies? I do not think it will make a great difference. He is not yet an 80-minute grafter, he’s more your fly-by-night sort. Even had he been fit I reckon Danie Rossouw should have had that position.”

The loss of Spies lessens the threat in the last quarter. What about the other three-quarters? The back row England opt for may be Brian Ashton’s seminal selection of the tournament. Winterbottom is adamant Tom Rees must play. “You have to go with a seven. In contact England must look to get quick ball, which was an unsolved problem in the three warm-up games. The seven must be quick, clear-thinking and get that ball away from bodies. You cannot go into the match with Joe Worsley at seven, Lawrence Dallaglio at eight and Martin Corry at six. You might be able to just about physically match them, but no way will you get an edge on them. If Lawrence is near his best he’ll be eight.”

This leaves the blindside, broadly regarded as a toss-up between Corry and Joe Worsley, with Lewis Moody adding thrust from the bench. “Blindside, I probably plump for Joe . . . his ability to tackle and shackle opposition at the fringes would be the area of the game which would earn him my nod. When he goes onto the field with his tackling head on, he can be superbly effective. Think back to the two Wasps Heineken Cup final wins when he was outstanding.”

So much for the starting lineup, the shape of the bench could be as decisive in deciding a match that should be tight for an hour if the England pack performs to its peak. Winterbottom offers a vision of a three-man surge from the touchline, late in the game. “Coming into that last half-hour, England are going to need fresh legs and pace. James Haskell should have been in the squad and should have been coming on. He is the sort to expose tired defences, England’s answer to the unfortunate Spies.” Presumably, Moody, a substitute yesterday, will fill the same role on Friday.

“Martin Corry is solid cover but I would even bring someone like Nick Easter on too. South Africa are so powerful that if you tire, they clean up. But as the All Blacks showed in Durban, if you keep the pace up and the legs fresh, they are vulnerable themselves in that last 20 minutes.”

In theory, South Africa should be out of Samoa’s sight by the hour mark this afternoon. The Springboks have a habit of thrashing the exuberant Islanders, but such is the obsession with the looming match with England at Stade de France that the underdogs could land a few early blows to ruffle the tournament second favourites, whose bodies are ready for today but whose minds may already be somewhere over the Parisian horizon.

Burger will be a strength this afternoon and England must transform him into a weakness if they are to win on Friday.

Stuart Barnes won 10 caps for England between 1984 and 1993