Parling will win his sixth international cap after being named alongside Leicester Tigers team-mates Dan Cole, Manu Tuilagi and Ben Youngs in England’s starting XV. Toby Flood is among the replacements.
Parling will be up against two uncapped South African locks in Juandre Kruger, the former Northampton Saints player, and Eben Etzebeth, who have been handed their international debuts by head coach Heyneke Meyer, along with flanker Marcell Coetzee.
But Parling says the presence of three uncapped players in the South Africa pack is unlikely to weaken the Springboks.
“They are very good players,” says second rower Parling. “Every South African player is physical and every South African forward is going to be a good player.
“It’s about us trying to impose ourselves. The first 20 minutes will be key. After that the teams will be trying to work each other out.
“It’s an opportunity but one we know we have to be right on our game if we want to win.”
Parling is set for an important role in the England engine room on Saturday against a South Africa side he says prides itself on its set-piece.
“There is no real secret to the way that South Africa normally play,” he says. “They like to a have strong set-piece, they like to have a platform to play off, especially at lineout time.
“They are normally pretty direct but they will take chances if they open up out wide and will probably kick their points. They do the simple things very well.
“We can talk about what they are going to do but it’s more about our game and imposing ourselves. It’s about us going forward in defence, chopping them down, bringing our shape to the attack and trying to get set-piece dominance.”
