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• Springboks aiming to have 'two best teams in the world', says Esterhuizen

  South Africa centre Andre Esterhuizen said that the Springboks are aiming to have "the two best teams in the world" ahead of their Autumn Nations Series clash against England.

  The world champions were pushed all the way by Scotland in their narrow victory at Murrayfield on Sunday, though head coach Rassie Erasmus opted to rotate some key starting positions. 

  South Africa captain Siya Kolisi and flanker Pieter-Steph du Toit started on the bench, with the changes a common theme during Erasmus' seven-year tenure. 

  Their opening Autumn Nations Series victory also put them back on top of the world rankings after Ireland's first defeat in 19 home games by New Zealand on Friday.

  "One of the good things is that everyone is getting game time now," Esterhuizen told the BBC's Rugby Union Weekly podcast.

  "It is also about looking forward, you've got to be able to spare all the guys for the next World Cup and build experience into it.

  "The aim is to have the two best teams in the world, all in one squad.

  "We want to make it second nature for people slotting in, so if someone steps in, they can just slot in and play the same if not better than the other player."

  South Africa next face England, who are yet to pick up a win this autumn, at Twickenham on Saturday.

  Steve Borthwick's side suffered a narrow two-point defeat by New Zealand, before conceding an injury-time winning try to Australia on Saturday.

  England have now lost each of their last four Test matches, their longest such run since losing five straight games in 2018, but Esterhuizen's former Harlequins team-mate Marcus Smith has been impressive for the Red Roses. 

  "It's a great space, I obviously love to play there," Esterhuizen added. "It will be great to be running at Marcus, not run off him.

  "It's going to be a great match, England have played well in the last few games, it's unfortunate that it hasn't been the results that they want. I think it's going to be a big one."

  The Springboks have won three of their last four matches against England (L1), including each of their last two. Three of the last five games between England and South Africa have been decided by single-point margins.

• Upamecano: Mbappe shown 'lack of gratitude' in latest France omission

  Dayot Upamecano believes a "lack of gratitude" has been shown towards France team-mate Kylian Mbappe after his latest omission from Les Blues' Nations League squad. 

  Mbappe was not included for France's upcoming fixtures against Israel and Italy as a "one off", according to Didier Deschamps. 

  The France captain also missed Les Bleus' last two matches, being rested despite his return to fitness in time for the October international break, with Mbappe coming under scrutiny for his absence.

  The 25-year-old played the duration of Real Madrid's 4-0 win over Osasuna at the weekend, but was unable to find the target for the fourth game in a row. 

  Mbappe has netted six goals in 11 LaLiga appearances since his move from Paris Saint-Germain, but has underperformed his season's expected goals (xG) total by 2.04.

  He has also scored 48 goals in 86 outings for his nation, along with helping them claim the 2018 World Cup and 2020-21 Nations League title. 

  Despite the recent speculation about Mbappe's absence from the side, Upamecano leapt to the defence of his team-mate and is hopeful for a swift return to the France set-up.

  “Am I worried [about Mbappe]? No. You can’t forget what he’s done for the France national team. We lack a bit of gratitude towards him," Upamecano said. 

  "I hope to see him again quickly. You can’t forget that he is our captain."

  When asked if Mbappé’s absence could be due to physical or mental fatigue, Upamecano expressed understanding for his team-mate’s situation.

  “There are many games, and I mentioned this at the start of the season. We’re human, and mental well-being is a big factor for us.

  "I won’t go into details, but as I said, he’s our captain, and I hope he’ll be back with us soon. He’s very important to us.”

• Ireland ready to respond after 'honest' New Zealand chat, says Hansen

  Mack Hansen has backed Ireland to bounce back from their 23-13 defeat to New Zealand that saw their 19-game home winning streak come to an end.

  The loss also saw Ireland tumble from atop the world rankings to third as the All Blacks repeated their World Cup quarter-final success from last year, and also marked New Zealand's first win on Irish soil since 2016. 

  Ireland had previously won 25 of their 26 home games under Andy Farrell, which was their longest run on home soil, with their latest defeat before last Friday coming against France in 2021 (13-15). 

  While questions have been asked of a team that have been beaten in three of their past five matches, Hansen was adamant that the mood is not dampened ahead of Friday’s visit of Argentina. 

  "People are always very eager to jump on you when you’re down. It’s like in South Africa, nobody gave them a hope after the first Test," said Hansen. 

  “And what happens? They come back and win it. That’s the best thing about this group. The outside noise is outside noise and nobody knows what goes on in here, how hard we work and how resilient we are.

  "People can chat away. The people who know us know, unfortunately, it was one of those weeks [against New Zealand], but we’re ready to bounce back.”

  Ireland's display was littered with errors against the All Blacks, which included 21 handling mistakes, 30 missed tackles and 13 penalties conceded at the Aviva Stadium. 

  But eradicating those mistakes could prove difficult when they face Argentina on Friday, who come into the encounter on the back of a 50-18 thrashing of Italy. 

  ​Ireland, however, have not lost to the Pumas since the 2015 World Cup quarter-final and have beaten them on the three subsequent occasions they have played in Dublin.

  And Hansen is confident his team-mates can respond against Felipe Contepomi's side and continue their impressive run against Argentina. 

  “There weren’t really hard chats, just honest chats,” added Hansen on Monday's debrief. 

  "We came to the conclusion that it wasn’t good enough and also that it just wasn’t us.

  "So this week we’re looking to right a lot of wrongs and no better place to do it then back in the Aviva in front of a home crowd."