If losing games they badly wanted to win has been England's intermittent recent problem, beating southern hemisphere opposition has been consistently beyond them under Clive Woodward. In 13 attempts they have won only once, which is why victory over the Springboks this evening would be worth its weight in the precious metal that this part of the world is famous for.
Ever since their World Cup quarter-final defeat in Paris when they were buried under Jannie de Beer's record haul of drop goals, England have had half an eye on this match.
Hansie Cronje is obviously not the only man in South Africa this morning who would love to turn back the clock. Nothing stands still for long in rugby these days and even the Lions' magnificent 1997 series win is now as much a museum piece as Cronje's reputation. Only Joost van der Westhuizen and Andre Venter of the current Springbok team featured in all three tests against Martin Johnson's men, and Jason Leonard is the sole survivor from England's famous 1994 win at Loftus.
Instead, today's first test will be determined less by history than whether modern England, strong enough on paper to unsettle the Springboks, can demonstrate the sort of hard-nosed attitude to winning. Johnson is not the sort of man to beat about the acacia bush and those seeking assurances from the fit-again captain that England will blindly copy the Boks' aim of tossing the ball around have retreated empty-handed.
"If both teams go out and play an expansive game for the first 20 minutes and it doesn't work, what happens then?" asked Johnson rhetorically. Much will depend on the ability of Lawrence Dallaglio, Richard Hill and Neil Back to impose themselves on Andre Vos, Rassie Erasmus and Venter more successfully than they did the Scots' back row last time out. Allowed to punch holes around the fringes, England are a match for anyone; if those productive channels are blocked, Jonny Wilkinson can hardly be expected to match his Newcastle boss Rob Andrew's 27-point haul in 1994.
South Africa, nevertheless, are looking further out for inspiration, placing their faith in a slender 24-year-old with a mere nine tests to his name. Few fit the traditional stereotype of a Springbok, indeed of most international wings, less cosily than Breyton Paulse, but the dancing feet of the farm boy from the fruit-growing region of the Western Cape have been the talk of the southern winter to date.
Paulse stands barely knee-high to Jonah Lomu and, at 5ft 9in, is even an inch shorter than Austin Healey. His 10 tries for the Stormers in the recent Super 12 season, however, have made him an automatic choice. He is now the Springboks' sharpest rapier.
Beyond the scrumhalf Joost van der Westhuizen, coach Nick Mallett has gone so far as picking the entire Stormers back division, giving Paulse every invitation to add to his six test tries. Mallett believes that under the new laws there is more incentive to play a wider game.
Kyran Bracken's contest with Van der Westhuizen will be fascinating indeed but it is Johnson, back in charge in Matt Dawson's absence, who should most worry the Springboks.
The Leicester giant is not one to overstate his captaincy: "No one guy can go out and make 14 guys play better" - but the indomitable will that fuelled the Lions has not diminished.
"It's going to take a massive effort from us. We could go out, play very well and still come off second best. South Africa are that good a team." England are making no wild predictions. "People talk about revenge, but even if we win the series we won't get to the final of 1999 World Cup," muttered Johnson. A narrow victory here, though, is a genuine possibility.
