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Three semi-final changes for England, including two in the pack
Steve Borthwick has made three changes to his England team for Saturday’s Rugby World Cup semi-final versus the Springboks in Paris, promoting Joe Marler and George Martin from the replacements to start in the place of the benched Ellis Genge and Ollie Chessum while Freddie Steward is reinstated at full-back in place of the absent Marcus Smith.
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The English moved into the last four with last Sunday’s 30-24 quarter-final win over Fiji in Marseille, a match in which they brought Smith and Elliot Daly into the starting line-up at the expense of the excluded Steward and the benched George Ford.
Now, with the defending champions next on their knockout stage list, England have bolstered their pack by naming Marler and Martin to start at loosehead and second row with Genge and Chessum named as reserves on this occasion to try and ensure their team finishes the game strongly and counteracts the famed Springboks bomb squad tactic.
Smith, meanwhile, was in the wars at Stade Velodrome, missing part of the first half due to the HIA that was necessary following a clash to his head from the yellow-carded Vinaya Habosi. He was then restricted to modified training on Tuesday when England had their first run post the Fiji win and has now missed out on matchday selection due to a HIA return-to-play protocol setback, enabling the recall of Steward at No15.
Last weekend’s omission of the Leicester full-back for Smith was headline-generating as he had started 29 of England’s 30 matches from his July 2021 debut through to the Pool D win over Samoa, only sitting out last month’s game against Chile.
“After an excellent few days preparation in Paris, we look forward to the challenge of playing the world champions and number one ranked team in the world,” said Borthwick.
“Through this tournament, the team has progressed with the players repeatedly finding a way to win, sometimes in challenging circumstances. We will once again need to be at our very best this weekend as we face an excellent team in South Africa.
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“There is no doubt the players will truly relish the challenge of knockout rugby under the lights in Paris. These players will, as they have done in every game of this tournament, give absolutely everything in the semi-final to get the result we want.
“I also know that our supporters will once again be there in their thousands, playing their part in backing the team with a full voice. To all those who have travelled and to all those lending their support and encouragement from home, I say, ‘Thank you’.”
Earlier on Thursday, Springboks coach Jacques Nienaber named the exact same XV that defeated France last Sunday night and opted to retain the same five/three forwards/backs bench split.
In doing so, the selection is the most experienced in South African history with a combined total of 895 caps – and 15 of the 23 played against England in the 32-12 World Cup final victory four years ago in Japan.
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England (vs South Africa, Saturday – 9.0pm local time)
15. Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers, 29 caps)
14. Jonny May (Gloucester Rugby, 77 caps)
13. Joe Marchant (Stade Francais, 24 caps)
12. Manu Tuilagi (Sale Sharks, 57 caps)
11. Elliot Daly (Saracens, 63 caps)
10. Owen Farrell – captain (Saracens, 110 caps)
9. Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints, 10 caps)
1. Joe Marler (Harlequins, 87 caps)
2. Jamie George (Saracens, 83 caps)
3. Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers, 105 caps)
4. Maro Itoje (Saracens, 74 caps)
5. George Martin (Leicester Tigers, 8 caps)
6. Courtney Lawes – vice-captain (Northampton Saints, 104 caps)
7. Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, 48 caps)
8. Ben Earl (Saracens, 23 caps)
Replacements:
16. Theo Dan (Saracens, 6 caps)
17. Ellis Genge – vice-captain (Bristol Bears, 56 caps)
18. Kyle Sinckler (Bristol Bears, 67 caps)
19. Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers, 16 caps)
20. Billy Vunipola (Saracens, 74 caps)
21. Danny Care (Harlequins, 94 caps)
22. George Ford – vice-captain (Sale Sharks, 89 caps)
23. Ollie Lawrence (Bath Rugby, 19 caps)
Comments on RugbyPass
Skelton may be brought back for the Wallabies so that would be the only reason that may hinder Wilson. Easily the form, most skilful and game IQ of any Oz 8. Valentini’s best and favourite position is 6, but lineouts may be an issue with Skelton, Valentini and Wilson. Will be interesting what Schmidt goes for but for me Wilson should be picked on form. Schmidt rewards work rate, skill and consistency. All that glitters every so often won’t be in contention. Greely is one of those players that has a knack of making the right decision. A coach is going to love him because he knows week in week out he’s going to get the job done. The second try Greely wasn’t the guy who made the initial break it was Flook, Greely was at the bottom of the ruck when Flook was off along the sideline. Greely got up and made the effort to catch up with play but also read the play nicely and hit the pass from Campbell at pace and then held the pass beautifully to Ryan.
6 Go to commentsSpot on Ben. Dead right. Havili looked great at 10. Easily the highest rugby IQ of any NZ player these days. Getting a kick charged down is a result of getting used to adjusting your depth to the line at 10, which he will sort out with time. But other than that it was an outstanding first effort in that position this year. I think the NZ media has misunderstood this directive from Razor. Havili might rank behind B Barrett this year, but Beuden is 33 this month and won't last much longer. DMaC is great but flaky and not really a test match animal (his efforts in Dunedin versus Aus last year for example). If Razor can't have Mounga, DMaC is too unstructured for Razor (and is just too small for test rugby). Havili will end up our first choice first five, and in partnership with Jodie will be excellent. Two triple threat operators in tandem, and big bodies and tough tacklers to boot. Jordoe will be the ABs goal kicker. I am an Aucklander and Blues (and Warriors) fan, but Havili at 10 is going to be sensational in time… he can be the best first five in the world by the end of this year. No question.
6 Go to commentsSharks deserved to be far further back by the last quarter. Their tackling was awful, their set pieces were disappointing, their defensive organization was poor (especially on the Kok side of the D line), they kept making unnecessary errors, and they never looked like cracking the Clermont defense during those first 60m. Masuku kept them in touch, with some help from the Clermont generosity on penalty opportunities. Agree with the writer of this article. It was belligerence, and ability to raise their pressure game just enough, that turned the last quarter into a Bok-style shutout. Clermont have a reputation of not playing the full 80m, and there was a bit of that for sure. But, quite often when the intensity of a team drops off in the last quarter credit is due to the opponent for tiring them out. At 60m, with the Kok try, you thought that just maybe the game was on. At 70m, with the Mapimpi contribution, one felt that Clermont were fading, while facing a team that would maintain the pressure game through the final whistle. Good win in the end, but the Sharks are still playing way below their potential. And with their resources, and a coach that has had enough time to figure things out, they are running out of excuses.
6 Go to commentsGood riddance
1 Go to commentswel the crusaders were beaten by a queensland reds side that hadnt beaten them at home since 1999 and queensland reds partied like it was 1999
6 Go to commentsHard to disagree with the 5 points - with the exception that Wilson should be a squad member but, depending on the other loose forward selections, is not yet a shoo-in. McReight is. Aussie is looking a lot better this year and JS has some selection options. Also, Havili’s tendency to get caught, charged down is also a liability at times but he seemed focused (mostly) and is definitely a consideration for utility back-up. Still feel Reihana is a better prospect at 1st five for Saders.
6 Go to commentsYeah nah, still not sure on Havili tbh. Even though I’m a Crusaders fan through and through I’d be stunned if Razor considers him after seeing some of the stunning talent coming through up North.
6 Go to commentsThink 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.
6 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.
6 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
6 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.
6 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.
5 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!
5 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?
238 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 comments