South Africa made two changes as they seek to bounce back from their shock defeat by Scotland when they face England at Twickenham on Saturday.

Under-fire Springboks coach Peter de Villiers has recalled halfback Ruan Pienaar in place of Francois Hougaard while dynamic No.8 Pierre Spies returns to the back row in place of Ryan Kankowski.

The world champions were left shellshocked after being upset 21-17 by Scotland at Murrayfield last Saturday, only a week after the Scots had been crushed 49-3 by New Zealand.

However de Villiers has largely kept faith with the side beaten by Scotland, saying sweeping changes for the England match were never an option.

"There is no panic. This team has all the ability we need - but what we all know is that we have to execute more accurately than we did against Scotland," de Villier said.

"That game is behind us now but we've looked hard at the lessons of it and know that we can't allow ourselves to make as many mistakes in our basic execution."

South Africa, aiming to rediscover their form after a poor Tri-Nations campaign, had beaten Ireland and Wales before the reverse against Scotland.

However De Villiers said he expected England -- brimming with confidence after back-to-back wins over Australia and Samoa -- would represent the toughest challenge of the tour so far.

"England have made good progress since they started their tour to Australia this year and will be full of confidence," said De Villiers.

"A full Twickenham will ensure that this is the toughest Test of the tour for us.

"But Saturday's performance wasn't a true reflection of the talent in this squad and the players want to put that right and end the Test season on a high."

South Africa: Zane Kirchner, Gio Aplon, Frans Steyn, Jean de Villiers, Lwazi Mvovo, Morne Steyn, Ruan Pienaar, Pierre Spies, Juan Smith, Deon Stegmann, Victor Matfield (capt), Bakkies Botha, Juan du Plessis, Bismarck du Plessis, Jannie du Plessis, Tendai Mtawarira. Res: Adrian Strauss, CJ van der Linde, Flip van der Merwe, Willem Alberts, Francois Hougaard, Patrick Lambie, Adi Jacobs.

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP