Cape Town - Scrumhalf Ben Youngs says the mood in England's camp is as good as he has ever known it ahead of the start of their three-Test tour of South Africa. 

England have flown to South Africa ahead of the first Test in Johannesburg this weekend looking for a first ever series win against the Springboks. 

Youngs was on England's tour of South Africa in 2012 and is feeling in confident mood considering what he has seen from the squad so far. 

“The spirit has been fantastic, it’s probably the best vibe I’ve known it to be," said the 28-year-old.

"Everyone is very excited about the opportunity of playing out here at Ellis Park and the history that it has. 

“Everyone has come in straight away and contributed, so you’ve got a lot of young guys and boys that are new to this environment, but they’re coming in and trying to add to the group which is great. 

“There’s a lot of experienced boys who have toured a fair few times now so they know the importance of gelling really quickly, and we’ve also got a lot of guys who have played together with England for a long time so that combination between the young, energetic lads within the senior lads with knowing how things work, you combine that and the mood has been really good. 

“We want to make sure we come here and we’re successful. I was here in 2012 so we want to make sure we do better than we did then and the opportunity for us is to win the Test series.” 

The Leicester Tigers No 9 is expected to do battle with Faf de Klerk at the weekend, with the South African impressing for Sale Sharks this season. 

Having played against De Klerk in the Aviva Premiership, it is a tussle that Youngs is looking forward to. 

"He’s come into the Premiership and he’s done extremely well for Sale in terms of pushing for the top six towards the end," he added. 

“He’s certainly a guy that’s definitely in form and I’m sure he’ll be looking to do that at Test level. 

“It’s also good a lot of guys will have played against him this year so we’ll be familiar with his strengths and he’s got a fair few strings to his bow. 

“He’s a lively player, good kicking game, he’s happy to challenge the line and he’s clearly a threat.”