South Africa v England: Tom Rees backs old team-mates to match Boks' back row But for me, the thing which excited me the most and which I found the most interesting through all that rather sadly was my experiences with the doctors and surgeons who kept having to put me back together. There are plenty of people in rugby who don't care what's wrong with them, they just want it fixed, but a fair few of us wanted to understand that and make use of the top people around you. It's something I am very excited about. He is also excited about the Test series about to take place in South Africa and believes that England will win at least one rubber, even if they do not win the series. England against South Africa is always a Test match with a ferocious edge. Both teams reached their nadir this century against one another - South Africa turning Twickenham into a boxing ring when going down to a 50 point defeat in 2002, England humiliated in the pool stage of the 2007 World Cup where they failed to post a single point in response to their opponent's 36. Rees, who played in the drubbing in Paris, acknowledges that relations on the pitch between the two sides can be strained, but clearly has a deep respect for the qualities of the South Africans as players and as men. They take it all very, very seriously. There's a huge amount of passion and pride goes into the Springbok jersey," he says. I don't think it is necessarily a mark of hostility towards other nations because you only have to look at what they do to their own. "I heard JPR Williams speak quite recently and someone asked "are there any good South Africans?" His immediate response, and I from my limited experience agree, was that South Africans are a fantastic people. Yes, they're abrasive, they're physical, they're arrogant as well if you want. But, they will respect you if you will stand up and go toe to toe with them. They are some of the most fierce competitors you could ever get, but some of the most down to earth, honest people at the same time. Despite this, England will expect few pleasantries from their opponents or their fanatical supporter base in the Boer heartlands until the series is over. Rees's South African friends have been messaging him all week predicting the Boks to ease home by 60. They aren't joking. "As for supporters,, it will be a hostile environment, but I don't think it's borne out of any genuine dislike or hatred towards anyone else, it's just purely national pride.," Rees adds. My experience was that in New Zealand, that was a place where it was more hostile directly towards you and less based around their own side. A problem now as in Rees's day, England have long enjoyed the services of a pool of world class back-rowers, without ever quite discovering a world class back-row. The team have struggled to find a balance, as Rees admits: "If you think back to 2003, the guys there - Hill, Back, Dallaglio - were THE back-row. Joe Worsley was a rising star and he was restricted to just coming off the bench, Lewis Moody as well - his career was stalled because these guys were there the whole time. That's because they were injury free and they were playing at the best of their ability. There hasn't been that level of consistency with the guys there at the moment. There have been injuries, there have been disruptive things. When they start to get going, they get derailed, but we are building towards a critical mass. All of these guys are playing really well and if they stay fit, then three or four should be able to take their game to that next level. As for the back-row I enjoyed playing in the most, if I had to pick a starting line-up it would be myself at seven, James [Haskell] at six and Lawrence [Dallaglio] at eight, because as a young guy growing up watching Lawrence and going through the academy with James, being part of that unit was probably my fondest moment on the pitch. As for Rees's former club side, Wasps, he is confident that they will arrest the slump in their fortunes this year after narrowly avoiding relegation. We did have a rather exceptional injury list this year and financially we don't have the same clout as other clubs. Behind the scenes budgets have been tightened and cut. To be honest, with everything that happened at the club, it's a wonder we weren't relegated by Christmas. The guys did a fantastic job of hanging in there and taking it down to the wire. Coming out of that this year, if the sale of the club goes through, we will have a base to build on and a lot of experience in the likes of Haskell and Palmer coming back. Young players have also gained three years" worth of experience in one season owing to being in a situation they would not have been in in an ideal world. I'm not saying that they will turn it all around in one year, but they certainly won't be in that situation again. Rather than from the bottom of a ruck, this most devoted of Wasps men will be able to watch the action from the comfort of Imperial's student bar. The club's loss, and England's, will be medicine's gain. Tom Rees was speaking at the Maximuscle Perform like a Pro event at Twickenham. For more information visit www.maximuscle.com