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Travel delay for England forces change of plans for semi-final

By Online Editors
England's Courtney Lawes hard at work at a World Cup training session. (Photo by David Rogers / Getty Images)

England will review their travel plans for Saturday’s World Cup semi-final against New Zealand after arriving late for today’s captain’s run.

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Eddie Jones’ squad was delayed by 10 minutes in their 30-mile journey from the team hotel in Tokyo Bay to International Stadium Yokohama due to heavy rain that caused traffic problems.

Their seismic knockout clash against the All Blacks kicks off at 5pm local time and assistant coach Neal Hatley revealed that although the rain is expected to clear tomorrow, the travel logistics will be re-examined.

“The rain was a bit of a factor. It was about 10 minutes longer than expected so we’ll have a look,” Hatley said.

“The logistics have been brilliant through the whole tournament and it’s not due to rain tomorrow. I’m pretty sure we’ll get that ten minutes back.”

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Meanwhile, Courtney Lawes vowed that New Zealand will know exactly who England’s players are by the end of the semi-final.

All Blacks lock Brodie Retallick was on Monday forced to recall the moment he said ‘Michael Laws’ when asked which of Stuart Lancaster’s 2014 tourists he knew, mistakenly referencing Courtney.

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Michael Laws is a Kiwi politician and former Mayor of Whanganui.

“If they don’t know, then they will tomorrow, it’s just one of those things mate! We will just get on with it,” Lawes said.

“We’re excited. None of us have played in a semi-final before, it’s a challenge but we’re very excited to get out there.

“They have gone with a pretty big pack. That’s fine with us. We are used to that. In terms of the line-out (Scott Barrett) is a good jumper.

He’s normally a second row forward. But I think we have addressed that and have the callers and jumpers to deal with it.

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“They have a great pack and have a lot of great players across the board – but so do we. We have two of the best packs in the world going up against each other.”

The Wasps have an exceptional new training facility:

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Trevor 2 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

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Bull Shark 6 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

Of the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.

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