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England forward refutes semi-final 'revenge is motivation' claim
England second row Ollie Chessum insists revenge is not a motivating factor for Saturday’s World Cup semi-final against South Africa.
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The rivals collide for the sixth time in the tournament’s history with the most recent of those meetings taking place in Yokohama four years ago when Eddie Jones’ side were toppled 32-12 in the final.
Having demolished New Zealand a week earlier, England were expected to topple the Springboks but instead they were off the pace from the start and overwhelmed as a consequence.
There should be at least eight survivors from that starting XV who take the field for the rematch at Stade de France, but Chessum denied there was a score to be settled.
“It hasn’t been mentioned much, certainly by me anyway. I wasn’t here in 2019 so it doesn’t motivate me,” the Leicester second row said.
“We have got a new group of players now who are quite happy to leave that in the past and focus on what we can do as this new England group.”
Predictions of the semi-finals being comprised entirely of Six Nations sides have failed to materialise with England the sole European representative and the only unbeaten team left in the competition.
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They face one of the great South Africa sides who have been installed as strong favourites to emulate New Zealand by winning back-to-back World Cups in the wake of their victory over France in the previous round.
Defence coach Kevin Sinfield has said that England were “in awe of the physicality they brought” against the hosts and Chessum insisted the Springboks must be matched in the forward exchanges.
“These are the games you want to be a part of – against the biggest teams on the biggest stage in the biggest competition,” Chessum said.
“They have some unbelievable players in their pack. They bring an exceptional level of physicality. It’s up to us to go out on the weekend and compete against that.
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“South Africa are unbelievable across the board and we have got to be the same, if not better.
“We are definitely hoping for another step from us. That’s been the nature of the competition. Week by week we have grown as a group and got better in various aspects of our game.
“It’s important that we bring the physicality, but also the level of execution as well.”
England have a settled team and will make only minimal changes to the starting XV that overcame Fiji in the quarter-finals.
The biggest area of debate is at full-back where Steve Borthwick is weighing up the high ball and positional expertise of Freddie Steward against the cutting edge in attack provided by Marcus Smith.
Smith, a converted fly-half, has made only two starts and three replacement appearances in the position and his lack of experience could be exposed by South Africa’s accomplished kicking game.
Owen Farrell’s impressive display against Fiji appears to have brought his duel with George Ford for the number 10 jersey to a conclusion, but Kyle Sinckler could return at tighthead prop.
Comments on RugbyPass
Springboks won! Stop winging. You can change the game however much you and your rugby colonizing IRB want to and the Springboks will win you at that too. Your mind is colonized my friend get a life
85 Go to commentsBen, nobody gets fooled anymore by selective and biased data to support an hypothesis. Games are decided on such small margins these days that you win some and lose some, and dominance is a thing of the rugby past. Look at the RWC circle of fortune…. Ireland beats SA who beat France who beat NZ who beat Ireland. And so it goes on. Match officials help to eliminate real indiscretions. If they had been with us years before, no doubt results would have been different. Remember Andy Haden’s dive from a lineout in 1978 for which a match-wining penalty was awarded? Wales should have beaten the ABs that day. They took the loss like the gentlemen they were.
85 Go to commentsWith all the analysis and how good the all blacks were.The fundamental mistake with the ABs is that this is a test match and not an exhibition.There is no better team(country) in world rugby than the Boks that knows how to win a test match(we are post masters at this).We know our rules, we have the discipline, we tackle like beasts, we take our points and we never give up.I now have educated the ABs supporters(at least say thank you).Please stop “bitching” , accept what the outcome is and move along swiftly.
85 Go to commentsAnd they came from behind to win two big games before the final. No one can say what would have happened. Had the boks gone behind the game plan changes and the result may changes. Ifs and ands are irrelevant. The boks won. Neutral critics enjoyed the games they played. Its not a popularity contest. Get over it and move on.
85 Go to commentsI'm happy for the people of SA to get a second WC. And I mean that. I was very disappointed with this man's “stand on the hand” incident with Josh Van Der Flyer (Ireland). Ireland's downfall in the last WC was they did not rotate their first 15 as the head coach probably should have. That said, I'm happy for SA and genuinely hope it lifts the mood in their country. Ireland did beat them in the first match of the tournament. And before the trolls start trolling ….. please don't bother. Etzbeth said recently that the Irish players said after the match “see you in the final”…..this was actually wishing the SA team the best of luck in the rest, the Irish team were not dismissing the AB’s. This is what Etzbeth was implying. But he was wrong. I no longer live in Ireland. But I hope to see them lift that cup before I pass. Anyway, congratulations SA. 👍
12 Go to commentsMore bloody click bait. Dan Carter has said absolutely nothing. As he should do. Poor journalism again from a site that should know better
9 Go to commentsOh god please help these loosers get over it!!!! You lost. Doesn't matter how many times you dummies are gonna analyse the game, you still lost and we are still Rygby World Champions….get over it, you lost.
85 Go to commentsThe next Willie le Roux. SA are made not to use him.
2 Go to commentsDan has always been as controversial as tea with milk so we were never going to get any definitive answer. So DMac for the win.
9 Go to commentsGoodness. When are the All Blacks and New Zealand commentators going to stop complaining about how they could have won and just try to win next time 😂. In South Africa if you lose you get up and try again. Get over it.
85 Go to commentsHonestly, it doesn’t matter a whole lot. RSA has a ton of experienced talent in its leadership group. I am more interested in who is the new 8 man/8 men and the younger props. The captain may change but the system does not
1 Go to comments“See you in the final” can mean whatever you want it to mean. To me it means that 12 Irish rugby players are a bunch of poeses. See y’all in Pretoria.
135 Go to commentsBen, you are one of the most arrogant and self opionated rugby critics I have ever come across (next to Keohane). I hoped that after SA beating the best ranked teams in the world on their way to the WC (something not done before) that you might have the grace to admit that this is a special team that deserved the accolades coming their way. You have no humility and as has been been already pointed out, merely a troll to attract audience numbers. Count me out in the future.
85 Go to comments‘War of independence’. Such a grand name for a few skirmishes. Where were all the great battles of this ‘war’ ? Smith got goosebumps as he was being emotionally manipulated, another mushroom.
1 Go to commentsFor all those disputing the veracity of Etzebeth’s very public recollections of the Irish players’ comments, I have one question: should we be holding our collective breath in anticipation of a barrage of strenuous denials from the Irish squad? Then again, perhaps not…
135 Go to comments> If the game of rugby is to grow globally, then the rugby Sth Africa play needs to be exterminated. Their performances at World Cup ‘19 & ‘23 were the antithesis to what the game should be. If the World Cup final is the grand spectacle of the game, please no more having to endure the drudgery and insipid ‘style ‘ of play harking back to pre WWII days, where the soulless rugby of the Bok reflected the mindset of a nation. > Gotta agree with Ben Smith, “ the Springboks took the trophy by default, with what might be the most unimpressive escape of all time “.
85 Go to commentsI think Rassie should bring in some new guys and give them a go in these irrelevant games. It’s a chance to blood some guys that might otherwise not get a chance and see if they’re up to it. As for the who’s number 1 dispute? Don’t care. As long as the trophies are brought home, that argument isn’t important. Champions don’t fuss about the could’ve, would’ve, should’ve. They just do, and that for me makes SA and NZ the top dogs. Followed by Ireland and occasionally England.
225 Go to commentsThis is like the “catches win matches" saying in cricket. If ABs were pragmatic and kicked for goal instead of hunting tries, I reckon they win that game with ease. Instead, nearly 6 months later; we have World Rugby's official mouthpiece celebrating their Almost Won the Rugby World Cup trophy. Fine Victory Gentleman! Well-earned!!
85 Go to comments“…the All Blacks nearly won…” is the only phrase you need to concern yourself with relative to this “journalistic” piece. Enjoy your Almost Won the World Cup victory…
85 Go to commentsAw common. Stop winging. There were no errors by officials. It is all recorded. Whose fault was the Cane red card? Or the Savea knock? Maybe the selectors who insisted on making a very average player their captain should be blamed. Something had to give way.
85 Go to comments