Jamie George believes Springboks are the 'perfect test' for England pack

Jamie George believes a match against South Africa represents the "perfect test" for an England pack still "hurting" after their display in last week's thrilling 25-25 draw with New Zealand.

The All Blacks overwhelmed England early on up front at Twickenham, and with 10 minutes left were 19 points ahead before the hosts fought back with three tries in the closing stages to finish a dramatic match all square.

England end their Autumn Nations Series programme against the Springboks at Twickenham on Saturday, with England hooker George eager to face the world champions once again.

"That's been the talk all week," George said on Wednesday. "It's the perfect test for us as a front five off the back of a poor performance against New Zealand.

"The way we scrummaged and mauled is not the England standard and we're fully aware of that."

South Africa got the better of England up front on their way to a convincing 32-12 win in the 2019 World Cup final in Japan and George believes facing the Springboks' forwards is the ideal way to finish this calendar year.

"Players have been really accountable to that and what better than testing yourself against one of the best packs in the world?," he said. "We've got a lot of respect for them but we're hurting from our performance at the weekend and we want to make sure we get things right."

England coach Eddie Jones, due to name his side on Thursday, has often been accused of exerting too much control over the squad.

But George said the veteran Australian boss and his staff had put the onus on players to lead the way during training when trying to fix the problems evident in a lacklustre first-half against the All Blacks.

"A lot of things this week have been more player-led," George explained. "Kyle