Ellis Genge on why the outside noise is 'fuel' ahead of Springboks semi-final

Ellis Genge believes England enter their World Cup semi-final against South Africa on Saturday with “everyone wanting us to lose”.

England head into the penultimate round as the tournament’s only unbeaten team and as standard bearers for northern hemisphere rugby following the exit of more heralded rivals Ireland, France and Scotland.

Facing them is one of the great Springbok sides, who are strong favourites to triumph in the rematch of the 2019 final, but Steve Borthwick’s men have grown accustomed to being written off.

Genge insists that, while some players will block out any negativity from outside the camp, he will be part of a group who use it as fuel.

“I think it’s probably half and half. I think it’s probably case by case,” the Bristol prop said.

“I quite like the noise and having our backs up against the wall, with everyone wanting us to lose. That probably fuels me a bit. Others are probably better off blocking it out.

“You don’t get any more style points in this. It’s about winning, that’s all we’re focused on. It’s boring I know, but that’s all that matters. Find a way. Whatever way, I’m happy with it.

“We have achieved nothing yet. We have got a semi-final, but you don’t win any medals so we need to knuckle down and do the hard work and what will be will be.”

England advanced to the last four with a gripping 30-24 victory over Fiji, the darlings of the World Cup who were being willed on by neutrals at the Stade Velodrome.

Veterans Courtney Lawes and Owen Farrell excelled against the Islanders, yet Genge believes they are the target of animosity – a point underlined when England’s captain Farrell drew boos from sections of the crowd as his name was read out on the PA system while the teams were warming up.

“You look around and we have people like Courtney and people with 300 caps across three players, which is mental, and some of the best players of their generation,” Genge said.

“Right now they are probably the villains because everyone hates on them. Owen, he gets a lot of grief, but you are happy to have him in the team every single time.”

Genge believes Farrell is “big enough to look after himself” in response to the booing, which was in marked contrast to the positive reception that greeted the names of Marcus Smith and George Ford.

Attack coach Richard Wigglesworth sees Farrell’s unpopularity in Marseille as the work of a noisy minority.

“I heard an incredible atmosphere inside the stadium, an amazing amount of support. The minority are always the loudest. They are who you hear,” Wigglesworth said.

“But the majority of people in the stadium, the majority of the people turning up are loving this team and supporting it. I thought they were incredible inside the stadium.”