England will ‘respect’ Springboks by producing their best in crunch semi-final
England number eight Ben Earl celebrates during a Test match.
England back-row Ben Earl insists his team have a chance to reach the final and that the only way to respect the defending champions is to bring their best.
The Red Rose come into the clash as underdogs despite being the only unbeaten side remaining in the competition and will be looking to settle a score from the 2019 Rugby World Cup final where they fell short to South Africa.
Different journeys
The two teams have had a completely different journey in the tournament thus far with the Springboks having already faced Ireland, Scotland and also sent host France packing. Meanwhile, England topped their pool by beating Argentina, Japan, Samoa and Chile before closing out a fairly tight quarter-final with Fiji.
Earl respects the holders of the William Webb Ellis Cup but also underlined that everything changes in knockout rugby.
“South Africa are world champions for a reason, they’re Lions champions for a reason,” Earl said.
“We’ve got a huge amount of respect for them – I’ve been watching highlights of some of their players in the pack since I was 12.
“But the only way we can respect them is by bringing our best. That’s what we’ve been speaking about all week and how we’ve been preparing ourselves.
“There’s always a narrative through the group stage and I always think there’s another narrative once you get to the early knockout stages.
“I almost think it’s a new chapter once you get to the semis and the final. It is purely about who turns up on the day.
“No-one has got points on the board in terms of tables and stuff. It’s bit of a roll of the dice. All we can do is bring the best of ourselves, psychologically and physically.
“You saw the elation of the quarter-final and of course we were ecstatic to be where we are, but this is another step and we are fully prepared for that.”
A team with no baggage
Since Steve Borthwick took over the reins late last year the coach has simplified England’s game and put a big focus on the fundamentals. This change has brought results of late and given the team a new found belief.
“We’re our own team. Although we kind of feel we’ve been through the mill over the last couple of months, we’re the kind of team that doesn’t hold too much baggage,” Earl said.
“We feel like we’re a new team, we feel like we’re only at the beginning of our journey. We’re not really carrying too much of a burden.
“We’re going to try and play our best rugby and be at our best. That’s all we can do.”