Boks fire warning to rivals England

South Africa captain Corne Krige has warned World Cup pool rivals England that his Springbok side are back on track after they pushed New Zealand all the way before losing 19-11 in Dunedin.

Krige's men conceded 50 points against England last season at Twickenham and suffered a similar mauling by the All Blacks earlier in the Tri-Nations, but have picked up their game.

Krige, indeed, took great heart from their latest display against the Tri-Nations champions.

He said: "There's such a fine line between winning and losing. That's Test match rugby and you've got to be right up there every week. The World Cup is going to be no different, we've got to make less errors at crucial times and maybe the team can be a bit fitter and tougher mentally.

"I'm sure we'll be a different team come the World Cup. There are a few key guys who are coming back, a few guys who can make a difference to this side."

Meanwhile, All Black winger Jonah Lomu believes he is "ready to go" in his bid for selection for this year's World Cup despite his low-key return to action for Wellington on Saturday.

Lomu played 40 minutes against Taranaki in a National Provincial Championship warm-up match but touched the ball only three times and made just one tackle as his side lost 27-17.

But the giant winger, who has been sidelined with a recurrence of the serious kidney complaint nephrotic syndrome, which requires three days of dialysis a week, still hopes to play in the World Cup, which begins on October 10 in Australia.