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The 'five or six minutes' warning that has Elliot Daly clued in
Think painful memories of the 2019 Rugby World Cup final have England focused for this Saturday’s semi-final rematch with the Springboks in Paris?
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Think again. It’s far more recent memories that have players such as Elliot Daly on edge with a view to improvement.
England were coasting last Sunday, 24-10 ahead in their quarter-final with less than 20 minutes left on the clock in Marseille when things went awry.
Two converted tries conceded in the space of four wounding minutes turned what should have been a comfortable conclusion versus Fiji into a fraught one and it needed an 86th-minute breakdown turnover penalty before the 30-24 success was finally confirmed.
That defensive double whammy took the Fijians just three minutes less to achieve than the seven minutes Samoa needed the previous weekend to score two converted first-half tries.
No wonder concentration is now a much-desired English wish against South Africa. “It’s massively important,” admitted Daly.
“We have probably shown how our defence is getting better each game. Against Fiji, we lacked that for five or six minutes and they scored two tries.
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“We know we can’t do that in a semi-final. We know that we need to get better this week and hopefully we can stay on task in that regard.”
England will hope their defence is tightened by the recall of Freddie Steward in the No15 shirt, with Marcus Smith unavailable for selection following a setback with his return to play protocol after he got bashed around against Fiji.
“Freddie has been brilliant since he started playing for England,” assured Daly. “The confidence he has shown since the start of the World Cup campaign has been brilliant.
“He is a rock at the back under the high ball, he is really grasping the attack game now, he is making really good decisions on the edge which is putting me in space usually, which is nice.
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“He is a quality player, we back him all the way. The relationship with us in the back three now (along with Jonny May) is brilliant. We can talk to each other on the field and make sure we are in the right positions and try to take advantage of any space.”
With host nation France eliminated by South Africa, England can count on having more support at Stade de France than initially expected as a load of tickets have changed hands since last Sunday’s quarter-final results. Daly rates the importance of this backing.
Spirits were high when England arrived for their final pre-Rugby World Cup semi-final training session in Paris on Friday, the joking Jamie George and Tom Curry leading the way. #RWC2023 #ENGvRSA #EnglandRugby pic.twitter.com/3A4BdNOwiw
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 20, 2023
“Massive, in my opinion,” he claimed. “Last weekend against Fiji it was amazing to look up and see how many white shirts were in the crowd. In all the games we have had so far, the support has been unmatched.
“Hopefully they can bring that Saturday. We do hear it. It is very loud in these stadiums and it really does spur us on. If we can keep going with that it will be brilliant for us.”
The last word goes to that hoary chestnut, whether 2019’s final loss has any bearing on this weekend’s clash? “It was disappointing four years ago but the feeling around this team is very different.
“I had a bit of time out from this squad and to come back in, there is a different feeling within this group. All of the planning of the last year, two years, has gone into this, to hopefully perform to our best at the weekend.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Think it was a great defensive performance by Northampton. They didn't have stage fright in the first half, the Nienaber defense smothered them. They limited Leinster to 15-3 in the first half. It could have been over by then. A great try from Leinster in the start of the second half looked to have sealed it. But Byrne missed another conversion. Northampton started trying little kicks behind the Leinster wingers. Leinster messed one and Smith brilliantly made the conversion. Leinster decided to tighten the game after Byrne missed a straight forward penalty. A few errors got NH into the 22 and they scored and converted with a few minutes left. Another brilliant steal from Lawes saw NH have a final attack which was turned over by Conan. A classic semi final. World record attendance of 82,300. Leinsters 3 week preparation warranted for this one.
1 Go to commentsJust came back from the game and the atmosphere was amazing. Players stayed afterwards for more than a hour to sign stuff and take photos with fans. Great day out.
5 Go to commentsA great game. The Sharks without Etsebeth are a shadow of the team compared to when he plays. The limitations of Some of the expensive Sharks players are being exposed. Credit to Clermont for some exhilaration play at times.
5 Go to comments100% Mr Owens. But who would want to be a referee.? It must be the most difficult job on earth.
1 Go to commentsStarts to be overdone and oversold this systematic SA narrative…which nevertheless has the merit in this case to recognise blatant refereeing mistakes in their favor
5 Go to commentsNice article. Shades of Steinbeck. They can win the final if they take the game seriously; but only if they take it seriously.
5 Go to commentsWhat a sad way to end a glittering career. Somebody should tell him to delete his social media accounts and face the consequences of what he's done. Then he should slip away quietly into obscurity. This isn't likely to happen, something tells me he'll be back in The Sun / Daily Mail sooner rather than later.
3 Go to commentsguys its fine! he understands why he did what he did and has taken accountability for it; why should he have to be accountable to a court? after all he did was abuse people in person - its not as if he was engaging in _online_ abuse!
3 Go to commentsChiefs flanker Kaylum Boshier yellow-carded for collapsing the scrum as it rolled towards the line. It was a maul….
1 Go to commentsyou know, i’m a leinster fan so I want Northampton to lose and it is gonna be tuff with Cortney lawes, Alex michell and the other guys🏉 lets go leinster🏉
1 Go to commentsWelcome to the Pro ranks. Those hard teams of old do hit the sole better though. its a dog fight at the top.
6 Go to commentsCan someone fill me in please, I've read a number of Ben Smith articles now and it seems he's got something again South Africa? Surely, this game was over and done with 7 months ago. Can't we have something a bit more interesting and relevant, or is this the calibre of journalist on this site?
237 Go to commentsNot sure what the Welsh are moaning about. They’ve had far more players off England, than England have had off Wales. Guys like Josh Hathaway and Kane James will play for Wales in the end. And they’ll be fsr better players for having played in the Gallagher Premiership, than they ever would have been had they stayed mired in the shambles that is Welsh rugby.
4 Go to commentsThis is all being blown totally out of proportion. First of all, since half the Irish team isn’t Irish - it’s very likely that none of the Irish players said that at all and, thus, we’re not being arrogant. Second, since half the Irish team is Kiwi - it’s very likely the Kiwi players were predicting a NZ SA World Cup final. Which they got spot on. Good on them!
163 Go to commentsAha. An Irishman with logic! Follow the flow: - Ireland peaks with a >80% win record between 2020 and 2023. And then… - crashes out of another QF at the WC; - Beat a poor French Team; - Beat 6N wooden spoonists Italy; - Play shite against eventual wooden spoonists Wales; - Lose against the most boring, “the worst English team ever” , a team widely regarded as unable to attack; - scrape through against Scotland. This article, No - Trimble, is on the money! Except for one glaring statement: _The Springboks have a few aces in the hole in this debate being the reigning world champions and official world number ones_ There is no debate, boys and girls. There it is. In black and white. “Reigning World Champions and OFFICIAL world number ones”. Come July, the overrated Andy Farrell and this overhyped team are going to enter into a world of hurt.
90 Go to commentsI’d like to know what homoerotic events Daniel enjoyed at 8th man. I clearly missed out!
20 Go to commentsThis article is missing some detail, like some actual context or info about what led to him abusing the ref.
2 Go to comments*They used to say that football is a gentleman sport watched by hooligans and rugby is a hooligan sport watched by gentlemen. How times have changed.*
3 Go to commentsexcept ot wasnt late wasnt late at all so dont know why you all saying its late he commits early and its your fault fir not paying attention
30 Go to commentsNot sure the Bulls need another average utility back in their ranks. Chamberlain has been ok for the Sharks but is by no means an X-Factor player. Bulls bought several utility backs which they barely use. A typical example would be Henry Immelman who plays mostly Fullback. The Bulls however have rarely played him this year and he has played wing or centre. Bulls want to build depth but seems like they have too many surplus players
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