Chester coach Jan Van Deventer admits his attentions will be split between club and country this weekend.

The South African will be among a television audience of millions on Saturday morning as his beloved Springboks face England in the World Cup final.

Later in the day, his struggling Chester side will entertain National League Division Two rivals Scunthorpe.

And Van Deventer is in positive mood ahead of a ‘huge’ weekend for his national team, backing his compatriots to produce a shock against Eddie Jones’ much-fancied England side.

“It certainly wasn’t pretty in the semi-final, but we did enough to get past a strong Wales team,” he said.

“Being honest, you’d have to say that England are the better side. You’d certainly say that on the basis of their performance against the All Blacks.

“South Africa haven’t quite delivered that type of performance in a big game in this tournament yet, but hopefully we could see one in the final.

“It might be that their timing is just right and their biggest performance comes against England when it matters.

“I expect South Africa to be physical from the start and look to grind England down.

“I just can’t see England reproducing the same levels they showed last weekend. If they do, then you’d have to believe they’d win, but I’m backing us to edge it.”

Following Yokohama’s showpiece final, Van Deventer will look to arrest Chester’s three-game losing streak when they return to action at Hare Lane.

The hosts head into the clash on the back of a comprehensive 42-17 reverse at Fylde last weekend.

Depleted Chester were soundly beaten in the contest, with Van Deventer left to rue the injuries and player unavailability that decimated his squad.

He said: “In terms of the players who were unavailable for us - it was probably the worst weekend I’ve had here in my time as coach.

“We were left short on numbers and I felt like our squad depth let us down on the day.

“We came up against a Fylde team who were very much full of confidence and who were deserved winners on the day.

“But I think it showed us that after the success we had last season - we’ve still got work to do.

“Numbers-wise we look to be in better shape this weekend for the Scunthorpe game and hopefully we can come away from the game with a positive result.”

Tom Craven, Josh Morris, Callum Bennett and Harrison Vare are all set to return for the home side.

Influential back row forward Mike Craven is sidelined after sustaining concussion in the Fylde defeat.