RWC SF: England v Springboks
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Earl has been very good but not really in a traditional No8 way. He’s been playing a great flanker’s role with an 8 on his back. A bit like Savea from a year or so back.
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@stodders said in RWC SF: England v Springboks:
“England's Ben Earl would be close to getting into a World XV based on his form at the Rugby World Cup, defence coach Kevin Sinfield has said.”
From the Beeb. Earl has played v well. A standout for England. Tough competition though at no 8 in a World XV.
Give yourself an uppercut Kevin
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England must beware Rassie Erasmus’ dark arts if they want to beat Springboks
South Africa continue to push the boundaries within the laws of the game in search of an advantage
Gatland voices his opinion on Rassie and suggests what Borthwick should bring up with officials pre-match
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Joel Stransky: England have no chance against Springboks
Exclusive: The 1995 World Cup winner sees no facet of the game in which England can match the Springboks ahead of Saturday's semi-final
Stransky does a 2003 Fitzy 😂. He’d better hope they win. Humble pie is difficult to swallow 😬
The first part of the quote probably describes SA’s gameplan quite well too. 😬
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South African media bullish about Bok chances:
Treating Saturday as another final is key for Boks | SuperSport
Speaking on the World Rugby podcast the day after his former Springbok teammates had won against France, Francois Louw summed up the fears of many South African supporters.
"Yet while the different routes they took to the semifinals may be England’s big hope, meaning that less may have been taken out of them than has been taken out of the South Africans, that didn’t really look to be the case after their close win over Fiji in Marseille. They were playing lesser opponents and it was definitely a lower tier and inferior game to either of the Paris quarterfinals, but Owen Farrell’s team had to work as hard for victory as the Boks did.
They also don't have the depth, no other team has, that the Boks have, and therefore don't have the leeway their opponents may have when it comes to ensuring or even creating freshness."
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It’s a real shame this game is not Fra vs Eng. Here in France the enthusiasm for the tournament (in a country where rugby is mainly followed in the SW) has faded right away. A NZ vs Fra final would have brought real rugby fervour. Don’t think either semifinal is going to sell out now either.
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@Billy-Tell said in RWC SF: England v Springboks:
It’s a real shame this game is not Fra vs Eng. Here in France the enthusiasm for the tournament (in a country where rugby is mainly followed in the SW) has faded right away. A NZ vs Fra final would have brought real rugby fervour. Don’t think either semifinal is going to sell out now either.
Typical French fluffybunnies
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@Billy-Tell said in RWC SF: England v Springboks:
It’s a real shame this game is not Fra vs Eng. Here in France the enthusiasm for the tournament (in a country where rugby is mainly followed in the SW) has faded right away. A NZ vs Fra final would have brought real rugby fervour. Don’t think either semifinal is going to sell out now either.
I hear a lot of England fans and London-based Saffas are heading to Paris this weekend.
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@sparky said in RWC SF: England v Springboks:
@MN5 They took a lot of stick from sections of their own media after losses last autumn and in the Six Nations. They even got booed off by their own fans.
What ? This has happened in England since the dawn of competitive sport and media covering it. Cry me a river and maybe watch the Beckham doco for some perspective.
Go South Africa !!!!
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@Billy-Tell said in RWC SF: England v Springboks:
Don’t think either semifinal is going to sell out now either
3 countries whose people are known for travelling and upping sticks to far flung countries, and a country just a train ride from London?
I'd be very surprised if a game as close to a friendly as you can get sells out in London when England isn't involved, I'd be pretty surprised if these games don't.
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@Catogrande said in RWC SF: England v Springboks:
Earl has been very good but not really in a traditional No8 way. He’s been playing a great flanker’s role with an 8 on his back. A bit like Savea from a year or so back.
Earl is like a 7.5. Knows how to disrupt the ball. I suspect the Boks will target him and try and get him stuck at the bottom of the tackle and rucks.
For me the difference is the pace out wide of the Boks. With any space those two wingers can be electric.
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I don’t think we deserve a break, we’ve been abject for a long time. The Boks have built a great structure and have great cattle. We don’t have the player base because we dismantled our youth development and our U20s are shit now. We also have a fucked club structure which means we don’t have the ability to ensure clubs pick props for example. We don’t have the coaching structure, relying on Hail Mary hires, allowing Eddie to piss off every decent coach and swap them every five minutes, taking too long to fire Eddie and appointing a team of coaches with almost no experience or track record, meanwhile our experienced coaches coach elsewhere. On top of that, our players and coaches are pretty hard to warm too - which would be a shame if we were good, is embarrassing when we’re not.
I understand the odd opinion on here that England have a chance this weekend, but to me it suggests those people haven’t been watching closely enough. I don’t know any England fans who genuinely think we have a chance, some with unbelieved bravado, but no more than that.
Now I can’t stand the Boks, don’t like the way they play, don’t like many of the players, despise Rassie. But I have to hand it to them they’ve built a hell of a set up.
I was gutted for France on Sunday, and am not surprised they’ve gone cold, hard to see how they wouldn’t when they genuinely believed this was their best ever chance. My guess is they’ll support Argentina, New Zealand, South Africa, daylight in that order when the time comes. Don’t remember being less excited about an England World Cup game…
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@Dodge yeah, club rugby isn't that appealing at the moment, well for me anyway. The below the sternum tackle thing is going to be difficult to get used to - although I have noticed that it's only refs getting assessed that are hot on it. The other thing being, that for some stupid reason now, they've pushed the "3 subs only" rule waaaaay down the leagues, so can't even do rolling subs (the other day we had to roll out a team of 11 players just so they could get a game, instead of being able to sub on in other matches).
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@Dodge said in RWC SF: England v Springboks:
I don’t think we deserve a break, we’ve been abject for a long time. The Boks have built a great structure and have great cattle. We don’t have the player base because we dismantled our youth development and our U20s are shit now. We also have a fucked club structure which means we don’t have the ability to ensure clubs pick props for example. We don’t have the coaching structure, relying on Hail Mary hires, allowing Eddie to piss off every decent coach and swap them every five minutes, taking too long to fire Eddie and appointing a team of coaches with almost no experience or track record, meanwhile our experienced coaches coach elsewhere. On top of that, our players and coaches are pretty hard to warm too - which would be a shame if we were good, is embarrassing when we’re not.
I understand the odd opinion on here that England have a chance this weekend, but to me it suggests those people haven’t been watching closely enough. I don’t know any England fans who genuinely think we have a chance, some with unbelieved bravado, but no more than that.
Now I can’t stand the Boks, don’t like the way they play, don’t like many of the players, despise Rassie. But I have to hand it to them they’ve built a hell of a set up.
I was gutted for France on Sunday, and am not surprised they’ve gone cold, hard to see how they wouldn’t when they genuinely believed this was their best ever chance. My guess is they’ll support Argentina, New Zealand, South Africa, daylight in that order when the time comes. Don’t remember being less excited about an England World Cup game…
French don’t like the argies. They really like nz. I’d say NZ > SA > Arg > Eng imo.
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@Dodge said in RWC SF: England v Springboks:
I understand the odd opinion on here that England have a chance this weekend, but to me it suggests those people haven’t been watching closely enough. I don’t know any England fans who genuinely think we have a chance, some with unbelieved bravado, but no more than that.
Very much like ABs last weekend
Now I can’t stand the Boks, don’t like the way they play, don’t like many of the players, despise Rassie. But I have to hand it to them they’ve built a hell of a set up.
Yeah I certainly don't want Rassie and his bag-o-cheats anywhere near another victory
