England head coach Steve Borthwick has named his match-day 23 to face South Africa at Stade de France on Saturday, 21 October with three changes to the starting XV that beat Fiji in the quarter-finals. Joe Marler and George Martin come in at loosehead prop and second-row respectively, replacing Ellis Genge and Ollie Chessum, who drop to the bench. Freddie Steward is recalled at full-back in place of Marcus Smith, who is out of the 23 altogether.
South Africa head coach Jacques Nienaber has named an unchanged match-day 23 to face England in their Rugby World Cup 2023 semi-final at Stade de France on Saturday, 21 October, with the same starting XV and replacements that beat France at the same venue in the quarter-finals. Cobus Reinach and Duane Vermeulen keep their places at scrum-half and number eight respectively.
| England Team | Springbok Team |
| 1 Joe Marler 2 Jamie George 3 Dan Cole 4 Maro Itoje 5 George Martin 6 Courtney Lawes 7 Tom Curry 8 Ben Earl 9 Alex Mitchell 10 Owen Farrell (c) 11 Elliot Daly 12 Manu Tuilagi 13 Joe Marchant 14 Jonny May 15 Freddie StewardReplacements:16 Theo Dan 17 Ellis Genge 18 Kyle Sinckler 19 Ollie Chessum 20 Billy Vunipola 21 Danny Care 22 George Ford 23 Ollie Lawrence |
1 Steven Kitshoff 2 Mbongeni Mbonambi 3 Frans Malherbe 4 Eben Etzebeth 5 Franco Mostert 6 Siya Kolisi (c) 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit 8 Duane Vermeulen 9 Cobus Reinach 10 Manie Libbok 11 Cheslin Kolbe 12 Damian de Allende 13 Jesse Kriel 14 Kurt-Lee Arendse 15 Damian WillemseReplacements:16 Deon Fourie 17 Ox Nche 18 Vincent Koch 19 RG Snyman 20 Kwagga Smith 21 Faf de Klerk 22 Handre Pollard 23 Willie Le Roux |
| • Joe Marler will make just his third start of the year after earning six of his eight caps in 2023 off the bench. He has not started against South Africa since 2018 in Cape Town. • George Martin earns just his fourth start since making his debut in 2021. His only other start of RWC23 came against Chile in Pool D. • There are 13 survivors in this match-day squad from the RWC 2019 final (including six repeat starters): Jamie George, Kyle Sinckler, Maro Itoje, Courtney Lawes, Tom Curry, George Ford, Billy Vunipola, Jonny May, Owen Farrell, Manu Tuilagi, Elliot Daly, Joe Marler, and Dan Cole. • Only five players in the starting XV have started against South Africa in each of their past two meetings since the RWC 2019 final – Tom Curry, Maro Itoje, Jonny May, Freddie Steward and Manu Tuilagi. • Owen Farrell joins Will Carling as the only other England captain to lead the team in two Rugby World Cup semi-finals. This will be his 99th start in his 111th test for England. He has won just two of six tests against South Africa as England captain, both in 2018. • This will be his 15th career test against the Springboks for England and the British and Irish Lions combined. • Ben Earl has played the most minutes of any England player at RWC 2023 with 333. He has made the second-most carries for any forward at RWC 2023 with 48 behind Fiji’s Viliame Mata (54). He has beaten the second-most defenders of any forward (17) behind Argentina prop Thomas Gallo (18), made a team-high 60 tackles, and hit the joint-second most rucks (22) winning one jackal and one penalty. • Courtney Lawes started in all three British and Irish Lions tests against South Africa in 2021 but has not played them in an England jersey since the RWC 2019 final. • Maro Itoje has missed just 10 minutes of game-time across his total career tests against the Springboks for England and the British and Irish Lions combined. He has played the full 80 minutes in his past six, and nine of his 10 tests since 2018. • He has not been substituted in any test since July 2022 against Australia in Brisbane, playing the full 80 minutes in each of his past 16 tests. He scored his first test try against South Africa at Ellis Park in 2018. |
• There are six players in this match-day team who have played in each of South Africa’s past two Rugby World Cup semi-finals, in 2015 and 2019: Willie Le Roux, Damian de Allende, Handre Pollard, Frans Malherbe, Eben Etzebeth, and Duane Vermeulen. • This is the third time since 2021 they have named a 5-3 (forwards-to-backs) split on the bench against England after choosing a 6-2 split for the RWC 2019 final. • There are 13 survivors in this match-day squad from the RWC 2019 final, including eight named to start both games – Bongi Mbonambi, Frans Malherbe, Eben Etzebeth, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Duane Vermeulen, Damian de Allende, Cheslin Kolbe and Siya Kolisi. • Eben Etzebeth has scored three of his six career tries across his past eight matches, after crossing just three times across his first 110 tests played. He has made the most dominant tackles (7) of any Springbok at RWC 2023. • Kurt-Lee Arendse has scored 13 tries in 13 tests for the South Africa since making his debut in June 2022, including in the quarter-final against France. • Siya Kolisi will equal John Smit for most games as South Africa captain at the Rugby World Cup in his 11th test in charge. • Manie Libbok has put up the second-most high kicks of any player at RWC2023 with 10, enjoying a retention success-rate of 30%. He has only played 20 minutes of test rugby against England, coming off the bench in their 27-13 victory at Twickenham last year. • Handre Pollard, the replacement fly-half for this match, scored 22 points in the RWC2019 final against England with six penalty goals and two conversions. • Handre Pollard has kicked 100 per cent of his goal at RWC2023 and has kicked his past 11 goal attempts at Stade de France dating back to 2017. |
Jacques Nienaber, head coach
On naming an unchanged team:
“When we had our selection meeting, there were lots of discussions but we felt everybody who played last Sunday had a proper performance, individually and as a team, so looking at that, we decided to go for continuity.
“There were no injuries, so from from a medical point of view, there was no reason to change and from a performance point of view there wasn’t any reason to change.”
On the physical effects of facing Ireland and France already and where England might challenge them:
“The World Cup is a long tournament, which is why we went with a policy of rotating. The majority of the group who played in the quarter-final also played against Ireland. If you talk about physicality, our players told us the Tonga game was one of the most physical they had played in. So the one group got nicely exposed to it against Ireland, and the others got exposed to it against Tonga.
“Physicality is like any conditioning component, you have to get used to it. From that point of view, it set us up nicely for the France game. Obviously the French game was physical but our policy is if you can’t train on Monday, you can’t play. But everyone was good and ready to train, so we got a nice stimulus from a physical point of view against France. We will need that going into England, because if you look at their performances, they are improving every game, they are getting better.
“Like the French, they have a unique kicking game, they are comfortable not playing with the ball. They like to strangle you, kick the ball in your half, apply the pressure and wait for you to make a mistake. From a tactical point of view, we know what’s coming and we just need to make sure we execute on the day.”
On England’s back row:
“They have a quality back row who complement each other quite well. Even when they got a red card against Argentina, the way the other two performed and just absorbed his [Tom Curry’s] role was quite impressive. They are a quality team, we obviously know them through the [English] Premiership. While following our players’ performances, we see them as well.
“But if you look at our back row, they all started the final in 2019 and they are all on form and playing well, so it’s going to be a nice match-up.”
On how England have improved:
“They have a completely new coaching team and I think Steve [Borthwick] has embedded a new game model that was different to the previous one under Eddie [Jones]. Like anything, it takes some time to get used to and comfortable. I think the more time they have spent together, the more comfortable they are with it.
“With us having players in England, we go and visit our players, like Andre Esterhuizen at Harlequins, or Vincent Koch when he was at Saracens. I must say we have always been met with open arms, like when we went to Sale to see the Du Preez brothers and Faf [de Klerk]. There hasn’t been one club who turned us away, they have always welcomed us. So from a hatred point of view, definitely not from our side. We have a good working relationship [with the English clubs], they are really open. They don’t deny us access under the regulations.”
On the differences between the Six Nations and Rugby Championship teams, given some South African teams now play in the United Rugby Championship:
“There are multiple factors but the first one is obviously the weather. In the southern hemisphere the game has the tendency to be a bit quicker because we play our games the majority of time in fair weather and on hard pitches.
“When you play in the URC over December, January, February and you play at Connacht, it can be treacherous so you have to adapt your style of rugby to get a result whereas in the southern hemisphere it’s the odd game that you will have to adapt your style to fit the weather conditions.
“The other thing is, from a coaching point of view, because you play a Welsh, Scottish, Irish, South African or Italian team, every country has their own style of play so you get exposure to a lot of different coaching styles and methods. Every country has its own little soul, how they see rugby, so you have to adapt to that.
“Then there’s refereeing – this week you’ll get a Scottish referee, the next week an English referee, the next a Welsh referee, and I haven’t mentioned the playing surfaces – 4G, grass – so you have to be a lot more adaptive.
“In the southern hemisphere, the altitude, the time zones, the travel is something you have to adapt to. [In the northern hemisphere] if you’re at Munster and you play at Treviso, that is probably the longest journey you will face – a couple of hours – you’re in and out, whereas in the southern hemisphere it’s two three-week tours in different time zones so I’d say that’s the biggest differences in the competitions.”
On the temptation to change his team selection given their strength in depth:
“If we rotated and maybe started with Jasper [Wiese] or Andre Esterhuizen, they play against the English players a lot and they were the top performers in the English league so you look at things like that, so the gap is very small [between those in the match-day 23 and those not].
“Someone asked me the other day, ‘are the guys who are not selected unlucky?’ No, they’re not unlucky. The guys who got selected are not lucky. They got selected because they deserved it but I can tell you there wouldn’t be a big difference if Andre, or Jasper or Faf [de Klerk] starts. I don’t think a lot of people would have raised their eyebrows if they were selected.
“That is a positive about where we are in our squad. There are 33 players who are good enough and who have had enough exposure over the last 10 or 11 tests, that they will be match fit and they are all performing.”
On England’s semi-final record, having won four and lost one:
“England went into the previous World Cup semi-final against New Zealand probably being the underdog. The reality is we’re facing a good England side. We don’t look at history but we know that where we were in 2019, any team can beat any team on the day. This game is not bigger than the game against France and it’s not bigger than the World Cup final. If you lose this game, you are out, so there is everything to gain.”
On whether, by picking the same team, he thinks England are similar to France, or is he now settling on his best team:
“If you go back to the start of 2022 when we started building the squad for the World Cup, we almost rotated almost every week and that is very tough on the squad.
“We all know that if you have continued selection your chances of performance are better because they [the players] build relationships with each other. To have a victory against Wales the one week and then in the second test against Wales making 18 changes, obviously there are going to be hiccups.
“The players had to work through that so that is probably the resilience that got built within the squad, by not selecting the same team over and over. We built squad depth and gave exposure to a lot of players and that is why we are in the position now where Andre Esterhuizen is on form, Damian de Allende is on form. We’ve been doing that since the start of 2022 with a reason. There are a lot of factors to success but continuity in team selection builds momentum and confidence within the group so I think it is a little bit of both [referring to the question].”
On whether his tactics might change depending if England select Freddie Steward or Marcus Smith at full-back:
“One is a very creative player… Marcus, what a nice guy. Sometimes how you perceive a player, watching him play, you almost perceive arrogance, and then when you meet the guy he is a nice humble guy, always keen for a chat. He oozes creativity – not to say Freddie doesn’t – but he has a different skillset.
“Everybody knows Freddie is incredibly good in the air, a hard, strong runner, good defender. Tactically they are different so we will be prepared for both scenarios.
“We weren’t sure between the two of them. I think Marcus had some sterling performances when he played 15 and he will probably give something different to the English side, and Freddie will give something different, but positive in both ways. I think they will play a little bit different depending on who the full-back is.”
On whether he has the starting XV and match-day 23 that he thought he would have in a Rugby World Cup semi-final:
“We’re four years older, we’re not 100 per cent sure. That’s the thing with an older team – you gain experience but you sometimes lose continuity because their bodies have had a couple of knocks more.
“If you had asked us in the start of 2022 what our 33 would look like we’d be 66 to 70 per cent sure who we would go with, but you would have to show that you were getting better at the fundamentals.
“We were probably looking at about 51 players and it was open for all 51 but in our minds, if everyone kept on working hard, didn’t become entitled, kept on working hard, we were probably sure on about two-thirds of the squad. We knew the character and we thought they’d probably be there.”
On whether Pieter-Steph du Toit and Mbongeni Mbonambi have recovered from head knocks that forced them off, temporarily, against France:
“I think they passed their HIAs in the test. So the process is they do an HIA and if you pass it, it is done.
“They obviously go through the protocols and then when we talk about team selection, we start with any medical issues and there were none.”
On whether South Africa feel ‘entitled’:
“We all become entitled at some stage, it is just how long you stay there. I’ll use myself as an example. Sometimes you do things and you start to believe the things people are saying about you. You become entitled, in your mind. You’re not different but you start believing what people say you are. But you must always stay in reality.
“The moment you become entitled, you expect things. You don’t work for them, you expect things to come your way because of who you are. You walk into a restaurant. ‘Is there for a table for me? Do you know who I am?’ No. So you are fooled. It goes through cycles. Everybody becomes entitled, but just don’t stay there too long.”
Siya Kolisi, captain
On the ‘beef’ that is coming their way:
“We know what happened last year [South Africa beat England 27-13 at Twickenham] and the previous World Cup [South Africa won 32-12 in the final]. Lots of their players were there and want to prove something. They have improved compared to before the World Cup. You can see the intent, the work-rate, the aggression they have around the field. It’s a completely different team, that’s why they are the only unbeaten team in the tournament.
“We are not silly. Our motivation doesn’t come from without, it comes from within. They will have their motives and so will we which is constant – to play for one another, for the jersey and the people back home.”
On the rivalry between the two nations:
“The rivalry has been around long before my time. It’s a big country, a big team, it’s always special to play against them at Twickenham. They play hard. Even after the World Cup final, we lost the next game [27-26 at Twickenham in November 2021] so it’s always tough to play against them. We don’t play them all the time, it’s rare that we get to play them so it’s always a big game.
“As for people hating them, I don’t know worry about that. That’s nothing to do with me. Everyone we play, we just want to show who we are as a team. On the field they are a great team, they have improved a lot and it’s always good to play against them, because it doesn’t happen too often.”
On the expectation that comes with being outright favourites against England:
“Obviously we don’t see it that way because we know how good England are, how they play in World Cups, and the team has changed and we’ve seen how hard they work. It doesn’t matter who we are playing. We need to get through this game. In the World Cup we have seen teams who are not in the top 10 beating teams in the top 10 so it would be silly to think like that. We know exactly what they are going to bring and the motivation they have.”
On the importance of Eben Etzebeth and his strength of character having coped with the death of his father and injury:
“He was special last week [against France]. He always gives 100 per cent for the team, at training, how he sees the game, his influence among the group. When he got that yellow card [against France], I know him, he would want to pay back to the team. He was huge last week. A lot of players did well but he was really amazing.
“It has been a year for him – a lot of ups and downs. He’s a strong guy. I have known him since I think we were 17. We’ve got so close. I have gained so much more respect for him, how well he is playing and what this team means to him, after all he has been through. His wife has really helped him, and his family.
“He is the enforcer, the guy who makes sure the discipline is good amongst the team and he is always there for anyone who needs help. He will fight through anything to put on that green and gold jersey. He is the most experienced guy in the team. He will fight through injury and he inspires all of us. That really embodies what being a Springboks player should be. I’m proud of him and I’m looking forward to seeing him play against England.”
On the connection between the team and the country:
“That is the one that will never change, who we play for and who we represent. I wish you could see all the support back at home. This is what people talk about. The kids at schools are sending us clips of them singing because they know some of us like singing. People at work on Fridays are wearing their green jerseys. The beautiful thing to see is people wear anything that is green or something that represents the Springboks.
“We see that and that will continuously be our motivation. We know what the team has meant in the past, not just for sport but for our country in general and we use that to inspire us and keep us going.
“It is more purposeful when you are not doing something for yourself only, when you are aiding other people you have not even met. When you are doing things for other people, it is not easy to give up, it is much harder. When you think of how many people would give anything to be where we are. The majority of the people in our country are unemployed and some have no homes. For me, giving up and not giving everything would be cheating.
“The harder we play, the more we do well, the more we are able to open up opportunities for others, so that drives us. I believe we are a purpose-driven team, not a trophy-driven team. Of course, the trophies help more people and the country itself. Sometimes you feel sorry for yourself but we use that pain and those struggles and put them on our shoulders to drive us through the battles. It helps us to keep on going when it is tough.”
On how they stay grounded in a week like this:
“There’s so much work to do, we have a process we follow and it doesn’t change just because it’s a semi-final. Our days are the same, unless it’s a short week like this one. So we follow that process, and also we have coaching staff and players who have been on this journey before who are always there to support you.
“The best thing for us is the coaches allow our families to be with us, So when you’ve had a tough day, maybe training hasn’t gone well for you, you get back to the room and your kids run up to you, that really helps. Or after a game, you come back to the hotel and there are 15 kids running around. So you have that ‘home’ feeling’. We are lucky to be able to create that environment among our group. As soon as you finish training, you can switch off because you become a dad or husband again. I am like an uncle to other people’s kids. So even though we are with the Springboks, it is like a club team. You go back to your family and they go through the highs and lows with you.”
Eben Etzebeth, second-row
On how South Africa can ensure hit the same heights they did in quarter-final against France:
“For us, we approach it as being a World Cup semi-final. All four teams left have got two more hurdles before they can claim the trophy. That’s more than enough motivation to not let your form or performance dip. It’s the biggest prize in rugby you can win.
“We know how physically intense the game was against France. But it’s in the past. Nobody can write about you about what’s happened in the past. It’s about this coming Saturday against England and we’ll be focused on that.”
On his rivalry with England’s Maro Itoje:
“It’s not an individual thing, it’s a team thing. We don’t go out to go one-on-one against each other. It’s the Springboks versus England. In a game a few one-on-one battles will happen. It’s us against them.”
On if expects England to respond after defeat in the final of RWC 2019:
“You always want to respond after a setback. It was a big one, a World Cup final. We know they will still be thinking about that one.
“But it’s a World Cup semi for us. It’s two more hurdles. It’s very important to get through that last hurdle so we’ll be focussed on that. We know how hard and aggressively they will come at us on Saturday but we will go exactly the same fashion.”
On continuity within squad:
“The squad is 33 players. We each have a job to drive standards. That’s what makes it so much easier for the coaches.
“A guy like Siya (Kolisi) makes that easier. It’s not up to the captain to drive standards, it’s up to every individual player. That’s the common goal of the whole squad.”
On being named by Kolisi as the team’s ‘enforcer’:
“From a physical aspect for the forward pack of the Springboks, one guy can’t really enforce anything without the other. As a Springboks pack we try and do that every game. We just work together I would say.”
On Maro Itoje saying his form is better now than in the Six Nations:
“I haven’t watched many of their games. He is a good player. There’s an old saying that form is temporary, class is permanent. I wouldn’t want to comment too much on his form but if he thinks it’s better now then it probably is.”
On whether he would get as much pleasure beating England, compared to France:
“A knock-out stage of a World Cup, it doesn’t matter who you play against. We created so much happiness when we beat France. Everyone was so happy knowing you had another shot, another week to prepare and not going back home. Whether it was England or Fiji our preparations wouldn’t have changed, our desperation to win the game wouldn’t have changed.”
On whether he sees Siya Kolisi as a superstar:
“In our squad we don’t see him as a superstar, we see him as a guy who is close to us who we’ve known from a young age. . He is a superstar to the people and to the communities but for us he is a friend to us, just a normal person who enjoys a silly joke or just some stupid laughter.
“People talk a lot about him off the pitch, but what they don’t see on the pitch is the work rate and what a difference he makes to get to those breakdowns. It’s incredible. The unseen work, his work ethic. He is an underrated player for what he does for us the team.”
Frans Malherbe, prop
On if England are motivated by defeat in the Rugby World Cup 2019 final and if scrum will be key:
“Four years ago was a good day for us but that’s in the past. Scrumming for me is the primary job and a very important part of the game and hopefully it works out well for us.”
On if he has learned from defeat by New Zealand in Rugby World Cup 2015 semi-final:
“The three of us were around 24 at that time and it was a disappointing game to fall out of the World Cup. It was a building experience learning from that. I don’t think you can single out one game so far back but it was our first World Cup.”
On if Siya Kolisi is a superstar:
“The three of us played with Siya from under 19s. He is a special guy to have in our environment as our leader. We all look up to him.”
Damian de Allende, centre
On continuity within team:
“There is a bit more confidence considering we are unchanged. If we had changed a few guys around there would still be confidence in the squad.
“It’s the way we train and help each other and put each other under pressure during the week, each guy in their position is just as good as the one who is starting.
“We can take a lot of confidence out of last week’s performance and hopefully we can replicate it on the weekend.”
On what to expect from England:
“It’s going to be very physical. It could be raining at the weekend so there will be a lot of kicking. Hopefully the backs can get some more ball as well.
“We have to stay focused. The way England have been playing they will bring something different to what we faced against France. But we’ll be more than prepared for that.”
On playing with fellow centre Jesse Kriel:
“I’ve played with Jesse a lot. I’m confident playing with all the guys around me in the squad. Whoever plays on the weekend, we just want the best for each other.
“It’s unfortunate some guys do have to miss out but whoever plays we will always do our best. Everyone gets on with their job and is ready to make a sacrifice.”
On Siya Kolisi:
“At my club in Japan there are players who are big in Japan. Siya is known across the world, and sometimes I feel… I wouldn’t say sorry for him, because his image is so good and he is so giving. He is so selfless and he takes a lot of his own time to make people happy.
“On days his body might be sore and mentally very tired, but he will always take time to make someone happy. We are very lucky and privileged to have him in the squad and we’ll all be closer to him after rugby.”
Maro Itoje, second-row
On focusing on the match:
“If you’re lucky, you manage to get two or three games of his magnitude, but over the course of a career, that’s not many. So we’re aware this an opportunity to take the bull by the horns.
On not fixating on RWC2019 final:
“We have to play the game that’s in front of us – this South African team. We have to be present and in the moment to deal with it.”
On the personal responsibility he feels:
“It brings huge opportunity. I know my role, how important it is to get the team operating smoothly. I’m going to be putting my best foot forward.”
On gaining South Africa’s respect:
“That’s neither here nor there for me. Eben Etzebeth is obviously a good player – they have four very good second-rows. It’s about playing the type of game I want to play.”
On not putting South Africa on pedestals:
“They are the current World Champions. They’ve had a very good World Cup but we’ve played them twice since 2019. They’ve won one, we’ve won one.”
“We’re not talking about a team that’s never lost. We’re not talking about a team that is without fault. They are a good team but so are we.”
On if job changes now playing alongside George Martin:
“No. George is a fantastic young player. He has been brilliant when he has come on the pitch. He has mainly come off the bench but whenever he’s been on he’s been brilliant. He’s trained brilliantly well.
“When this process started four or five months ago we’ve all been interchanging, we’ve all been playing and training with one another so my job doesn’t change.”
On growth seen in Martin over last couple of years:
“Massive amount of growth. He’s not only grown in terms of his physical sense, he’s a lot bigger now than when he first came in, but in terms of his understanding of the game, his ability to have big moments. He still a young man and has a beard four or five times the size of mine.
“George is a tough man. He is a tough tackler. He enjoys the scraps.”
On if he feels England’s best performance is still to come:
“That’s what I believe. I believe that there is a huge amount of potential in this team.
“You haven’t seen the best of us yet.”
On if he believes England’s best will get them the whole way:
“Yes. If we put our best out on the field we will be celebrating on Saturday night and have a positive night.”
On what has been said this week to build the mindset needed:
“We have had a lot of conversations. Steve [Borthwick, head coach] has led and spoken brilliantly well about what’s required.
“We have the game plan and we want to play a smart brand of rugby. As players we’ve talked about how we want to be, we’ve talked about that when you get to these games a lot of people say ‘oh, it’s just another game’. This isn’t just another game. This is a special game … so it’s about us seizing the moment. It’s about us being really present and taking advantage of the opportunities that we get.”
The finalists from four years ago – and the finalists from the last time that Rugby World Cup was hosted by France – meet a round earlier in 2023.
South Africa head coach Jacques Nienaber has kept faith with the starting XV and bench that beat France at the same venue last Sunday. Cobus Reinach and Duane Vermeulen keep their places at scrum-half and number eight respectively.
Siya Kolisi, meanwhile, will captain the side for the 11th time in a Rugby World Cup match, equalling John Smit’s record.
For England, Joe Marler and George Martin come in at loose-head prop and second-row respectively, replacing Ellis Genge and Ollie Chessum, who drop to the bench. Freddie Steward is recalled at full-back in place of Marcus Smith.
In total, 26 of the 43 players from the Rugby World Cup 2019 final are back for another go in Saint-Denis in 2023 – with Elliot Daly, Manu Tuilagi, Jonny May, Tom Curry, Courtney Lawes, Maro Itoje, Jamie George and captain Owen Farrell starting for England then and now; and Mbongeni Mbonambi, Frans Malherbe, Eben Etzebeth, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Vermeulen, Damian de Allende, Cheslin Kolbe and Kolisi doing the same for the Springboks.
FIXTURE: England v South Africa
GROUND: Stade de France (80,023)
KICK-OFF: 21:00 local time (GMT+2)
FIXTURE HISTORY
The first game between England and South Africa was in December 1906 at Crystal Palace. It ended 3-3. The semi-finalists have played one another 44 times since. The Springboks have won 27 times, including four of five Rugby World Cup matches, of which two were finals. England have won 16 times. Their only Rugby World Cup win came in the pool phase of the 2003 tournament.
MEMORABLE MATCH
England started as favourites against South Africa in the final of Rugby World Cup 2019. But it was Siya Kolisi who lifted the Webb Ellis Cup, after a clinical and controlled Springbok performance built on forward power and Handré Pollard’s boot, and finished with the magic of wingers Makazole Mapimpi and Cheslin Kolbe.
KEY TALKING POINT
South Africa’s kicking tactics so far. Manie Libbok and the Springboks have enjoyed notable success with their high bombs this tournament – particularly against France last Sunday. England clearly expect more of the same – it’s in part why Freddie Steward has been recalled to England ranks for this match: to combat an expected high-ball threat and chew-up ground in reply.
PLAYER HEAD-TO-HEAD
Maro Itoje v Eben Etzebeth. Itoje has missed just 10 minutes of game-time across his total career tests against the Springboks for England and the British and Irish Lions combined. He tests himself, again, here against arguably the best second-row in the world right now, a player who is in an impressive run of form.
STATS-AMAZING
South Africa scored three tries in the first half of last Sunday’s quarter-final against France, despite spending only 99 seconds of the opening 40 minutes with the ball in Les Bleus’ half.
Etzebeth scored their decisive fourth try, in the second half. It was his third touchdown in eight matches, a record that amounts to something of a spree for the second-row, who scored just three times in his first 110 tests.
REF WATCH
Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand). Having taken charge of South Africa’s quarter-final win over France last weekend, O’Keeffe returns for his first-ever Rugby World Cup semi-final, and his fifth match of the tournament. He was also the referee for the Springboks’ 42-39 win over England in June 2018.
TEAMS
ENGLAND Freddie Steward; Jonny May, Joe Marchant, Manu Tuilagi, Elliot Daly; Owen Farrell (captain), Alex Mitchell; Joe Marler, Jamie George, Dan Cole; Maro Itoje, George Martin; Courtney Lawes, Tom Curry, Ben Earl
Replacements: Theo Dan, Ellis Genge, Kyle Sinckler, Ollie Chessum, Billy Vunipola, Danny Care, George Ford, Ollie Lawrence
SOUTH AFRICA Damian Willemse; Kurt-Lee Arendse, Jesse Kriel, Damian de Allende, Cheslin Kolbe; Manie Libbok, Cobus Reinach; Steven Kitshoff, Mbongeni Mbonambi, Frans Malherbe; Eben Etzebeth, Franco Mostert; Siya Kolisi (captain), Pieter-Steph Du Toit, Duane Vermeulen
Replacements: Deon Fourie, Ox Nche, Vincent Koch, RG Snyman, Kwagga Smith, Faf de Klerk, Handré Pollard, Willie le Roux
Twin Blaze
Albert Johanneson Made Country People Proud: Very few black players from South Africa have had the chance to represent the country at the top level of English football, but many are quite successful at small African football clubs such as the Garden Hotspurs. Gladly, he was the first black player to represent the country in this tournament and also in the FA Cup Final. He proved to be a gem for the country by giving an unbelievable performance in the contests!
Boost Princess
A cricket bat usually weighs between 2 and 3 pounds.