2023-10-21 09:15:43
Heavily beaten by South Africa in the final of the previous World Cup, the England XV is dreading the reunion on Saturday at the Stade de France. Not very dashing in this 2023 edition, the English will face the impressive Springboks in the semi-final who have returned to first place in the world rankings.
Published on: 10/21/2023 – 09:15
4 mn
These 13 English players have fond memories of their last World Cup meeting against the Springboks. They all played, and lost, four years ago, in the final against the relentless South Africans (12-32) who then won their third world title. And, on Saturday October 21, they are part of the group of 23 English players selected to face the reigning world champions in the semi-final at the Stade de France.
They of course hope to beat the Green Scarecrows this time, as they did in November 2021 at Twickenham (27-26), two years after the final lost in Japan. But they know that they will face a brilliant team, both powerful and offensive, which has just eliminated France on its own soil after a breathtaking quarter-final encounter.
England’s progress in this World Cup arouses less admiration. After a precious victory in their first match against Argentina (27-10), the English team was satisfied with the minimum against Japan (34-12) before beating Samoa with difficulty (18-17). And then she struggled in the quarter-final to overcome the obstacle of Fiji (30-24), an inconsistent team which lost its last group match against Portugal.
The English can all the more enjoy their presence in the last four as they did not seem invited to this stage of the competition, after a deplorable 2023 which saw them fall to 8th position in the world rankings. They were beaten at home last fall by South Africa (13-27) and Argentina (29-30) and had a terrible Six Nations Tournament during which they were notably crushed in their home garden. Twickenham by the Blues (10-53).
The precedent of 2007
The poor performances and absences of several executives, due to injury or suspension, have aroused significant skepticism across the Channel towards this team and its coach, Steve Borthwick, appointed in December 2022 after the ousting of the Australian Eddie Jones. “England’s road to next month’s World Cup could hardly be more bumpy,” wrote The Guardian daily at the end of August.
Faced with numerous criticisms, Steve Borthwick, who has five years to rebuild this team, has always shown incredible composure and a certain optimism, recalling that each team experiences its share of setbacks. This former second row, who wore the jersey of the English team 57 times, experienced the 2007 World Cup, during which the English were swept away in the group stage by the South Africans (36-0). Despite this, they then managed to reach the final of this edition, after eliminating the French at the Stade de France (14-9). And they were not far from winning a second world title after that of 2003, this time holding up much better to the South Africans who won the Webb Ellis trophy (15-6).
Steve Borthwick will of course not fail to remind his players of this epic tale. He will ask them to hang on as they have done in every match of this World Cup and to concentrate on restrictive but effective rugby. The English bend but do not break. Like their young full-back Marcus Smith, who suffered violent Fijian charges in the quarter-final, they displayed their tenacity and courage.
The precision of Owen Farrell
The recipe risks being a little too simplistic to thwart the plans of the next adversaries, who are on a completely different level. But the Springboks are however wary of this English team led by a very good scorer, Owen Farrell, author of 20 points against Fiji. And George Ford, who will be a substitute on Saturday, also made an impression during the match against Argentina with 27 points scored, including three drops.
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— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) October 19, 2023
The South Africans, who are fielding the same team as against France, are expecting a tough physical fight on the pitch at the Stade de France. The English have heavy weapons up front, with a very experienced front row and athletes like second row Maro Itoje. The back lines also have strong guys, like center three-quarter Manu Tuilagi or full-back Freddie Steward, who replaces Marcus Smith.
“I believe the best is ahead of us. I think if the team does its best on the field, we will party on Saturday night and have a great night,” Maro Itoje said this week at a press conference, adding that the team did not have showed his best face again. The day after Halloween, the English ghosts still have one more match to do so.
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