The indomitable 20-stone Ox pulling South Africa's pack on a revenge mission

It would be stretching a point to suggest it has been better second time around, because the best part of the first time around was a laying of Springbok hands on the World Cup. Os du Randt was still a few months short of his 23rd birthday when South Africa beat New Zealand in the 1995 final in Johannesburg, yet he had already established himself as one of the great forwards of the modern era. Tomorrow, when he smashes into the England scrummagers in front of 80,000-plus spectators in St Denis, he will do so in the belief that one truly convincing performance will give him a chance of tasting the nectar again.