England have deployed Freddie Steward to handle South Africa’s aerial bombardment in Saturday’s World Cup semi-final.
Marcus Smith was deemed not quite ready for action, due to the after-effects of a heavy blow to the face during Sunday’s last-eight victory over Fiji.
Smith started at No15 ahead of Steward for England’s 30-24 win in Marseille, but suffered a bloody nose and a fat lip after a collision with Vinaya Habosi. The 24-year-old passed a Head Injury Assessment mid-match to return to the fray, but has not trained fully this week.
The in-form playmaker has offered England an extra creative dimension at full-back, but head coach Steve Borthwick will now rely on Steward’s power and aerial excellence instead.
Steward will make his 30th start in England’s past 32 Tests, such is the 22-year-old’s command of the Red Rose full-back berth. The 6ft 5in Leicester Tiger will be out to shut down South Africa’s aerial kicking game and put England on the front foot by retaining his side’s own high bombs.
Joe Marler starts at loosehead prop, with Ellis Genge dropping to the bench, while George Martin packs down at lock from the off, with Ollie Chessum among the replacements.
Ben Earl will again start for England at No 8, with the Saracens powerhouse an increasingly important presence in the back-row.
The 25-year-old fell behind Harlequins’ Alex Dombrandt in the pecking order during the Six Nations, but went away and worked on his fitness and other elements of his game — and now he numbers among the first names on Borthwick’s team sheet.
Defence coach Kevin Sinfield even believes Earl should be in the conversation about the back-row composition of a World XV.
“He has been one of the standout players across the tournament,” said Sinfield. “If you named a World XV at this time, he would be close to getting in. The minutes he has played for us, the ground he has covered, he has done a great job for us. That’s on both sides of the ball, too. He has worked incredibly hard for the past 19 weeks.
“We know that he has faced adversity before with England, but he has certainly gone after it, and he deserves everything that he gets.”
Earl’s lung-busting 50-metre break in the dying moments on Sunday helped seal victory, and his all-action performances have proved central to England’s success here.
Chessum hailed Earl as one of England’s key power forwards, ahead of facing the world’s most physical Test outfit in South Africa.
“It’s definitely better playing with him than playing against him,” said Chessum. “He’s been fantastic for us. In moments when we needed someone to pull something out of the hat, Benny’s been that person. We can really look to him to bring that powerful, dynamic aspect of his game.”
South Africa have named an unchanged starting line-up to face England here in Paris, sticking with the XV that beat France 29-28.
Springboks coaches Rassie Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber have opted for a five-three split on the bench, with 2019 World Cup-winner Handre Pollard waiting in the wings to step into the final throes of the clash.
Cobus Reinach and Manie Libbok again get the nod to combine in the half-back pairing.
England team to face South Africa
Starting XV: F Steward; J May, J Marchant, M Tuilagi, E Daly; O Farrell (capt), A Mitchell; J Marler, J George, D Cole; M Itoje, G Martin; C Lawes, T Curry, B Earl.
Replacements: T Dan, E Genge, K Sinckler, O Chessum, B Vunipola, D Care, G Ford, O Lawrence.
