Rhodes will be deaf to Springbok mates

England’s Durban-born flanker tells Gavin Mairs in Vilamoura he hopes to ignore any sledging from his countrymen

Michael Rhodes, the Durbanborn flanker who is in line to make his debut for England against the Springboks on Saturday, insists he will not be intimidated by sledging from the South Africans.

The Saracens forward qualified for Eddie Jones’s side under the three-year residency rule in July, one of the last to do so following World Rugby’s decision to extend the qualifying period to five years.

Having played most of his formative rugby in South Africa for Natal, Sharks, Lions and the Stormers before signing for Saracens in 2015, the 30-year-old expects to face some “chirping”, but hopes he will not react.

“That could well happen,” said Rhodes. “I don’t know how I would react but those type of things don’t tend to affect me too much.

“In any club games I’ve played, I have just focused on doing my job. The chirp and the chat is part of the game. They might try to niggle and get under my skin but I think I can just ignore that and can get on with the game. I’m not perfect but I’d like to think I can block that out, especially if I anticipate it coming if I were to make the side.”

Rhodes is friends with several members of the South Africa squad, including his Saracens team-mate Vincent Koch, and he has already contemplated what it will be like to face them in a Test.

“Over here and back there you tend to play against your mates quite a lot,” Rhodes said. “I know it will be different playing international rugby but if I did get selected I could potentially play against Vincent. It’s quite funny how it works out. Hopefully we’ll play hard and catch up afterwards.”

The issue of nationality does not trouble a pragmatic Rhodes, who says his allegiance to England has been “a gradual development”

‘To the critics I would say my goal is to win games with England’

since joining Saracens, where he has been one of the keystones of their success.

“I never came over here to play for England and I left my international aspirations in South Africa when I left there,” Rhodes said.

“I can’t remember who first mentioned it [representing England] and I didn’t even know there was the three-year qualification, and then it was brought up and I sort of brushed it off, sort of ‘I’m only 18 months into my first contract here, it’s a long way away’ but then it just gradually got mentioned more and more.

“Eventually I made the first camp when I qualified. It wasn’t a decision I made in terms of, ‘I want to play for England’, as most English players would have, because that was never on the table when I first thought of moving here. It’s just something that’s developed over time, and here I am, so it’s worked out well.

“Three years ago I’d have never believed you if you’d said, ‘You’ll be in the England camp leading into a possible game against South Africa’. But I’m very happy.”

Rhodes, who cites former Springboks Gary Teichmann, James Small and Andre Joubert as his childhood heroes, accepts that not all supporters might agree with the decision to select overseas players for England but vowed he would give anything he has for the red rose.

“I am going to play as hard and committed as possible to winning the game,” Rhodes said. “To those people, I would say that my goal is to win rugby games with England.

“If they are supporting the team, then the winning is what they should be concerned about. As I say, when it comes down to commitment, there should be no doubt where my commitment lies.”

That commitment could make quite an impact. Jones recently described Rhodes as a player who “hits hard and hits often” and his physicality will bring a fresh edge to the England pack. “I do enjoy defence and the confrontational side of things,” Rhodes added. “Being able to stop the momentum of the other side is something that’s huge in the modern game.

“It’s something I take pride in myself and concentrate on. Long may it last. It’s a massive point here as well.”

Among the crowd at Twickenham on Saturday will be his parents, who are flying from South Africa to see the first two Tests of the Quilter series.

“I’ve had a lot of support from mates back home,” Rhodes added.

“I think my old man’s been getting more flak than me about it from his mates about who he’ll be supporting.”