England skipper Jason Robinson last night briefly lifted a self-imposed media boycott to comment on Saturday's clash against Tri-Nations champions South Africa.

His remarks, though, were issued by the Rugby Football Union, as Robinson pulled out of the traditional Test week captain's press conference.

Vice-captain, Bath centre Mike Tindall, took his place, and there is currently no indication whether or not Robinson will prolong the protest about ''unwarranted media intrusion'' into his private life.

England face Australia next week in a repeat of the World Cup final last November, and the Sale Sharks full-back, via an RFU statement, said: ''This is a massive week for England.

"South Africa's defeat at the hands of Ireland last Saturday will have really disappointed them.

''However, this will have made them all the more determined. So we look forward to a challenging game with one of the toughest teams in world rugby.''

And reviewing England's 70-0 romp against Canada last Saturday, Robinson added: ''Last week was a good start for England.

"It gives us the opportunity to run through everything and involve our four new caps.''

With Robinson absent, Tindall last night gave a ringing endorsement of England's new leader, who has stepped in as skipper instead of injured fly-half Jonny Wilkinson.

''Nothing has changed in our preparation,'' Tindall said. ''It has been the same week and the same intensity.

''Everyone is fit, everyone has trained and we had a very good attacking session today.

"We've had the best preparation possible, and now we've just got to have a good team run on Friday and do the job on Saturday.

''People would ask you what was special about Martin Johnson, and I would say it was because you could watch him on the field and if there was a brick wall to run through, then he would do it.

''With Jason, you watch what he does, no matter what the opposition, and he will just carve people up, and we can feed off that when we are on the field.

''Jason motivates the boys really well.

"My side of it (as vice-captain) is more with the defensive organising of things.

"In rugby, you need leaders all over the field, and I hope I am one of them.''

Apart from his leadership role, Tindall and centre partner Henry Paul will also have to cope with the powerful Springboks midfield pairing of De Wet Barry and Marius Joubert.

''De Wet Barry is strong, puts his body on the line, tries to steal the ball and makes a real nuisance of himself,'' Tindall added.

''Joubert seems to hit the holes, and he is in awesome try-scoring form.

''If you had to pick the best centres around, then you would pick Joubert for the way he is scoring tries. He is a machine at the moment. Saturday is a very big challenge for me and Henry Paul.

"It is always difficult starting centre partnerships, especially in a game like Canada, because the ball moves around a lot.

''We defended fine as a pair, we just need more work together as a pair in attack.''