England face one of rugby’s most daunting and difficult tasks on Saturday, in attempting to dislodge South Africa for a place in the Rugby World Cup Final.
Steve Borthwick’s men will need to neutralise the Springboks’ chief weapons to be in with a chance of semi-final victory in Paris.
Here, we examine four keys to victory for the Red Rose men.
Dominate the set-piece, or deny the contest
France found a way to limit South Africa’s brutal scrum threat on Sunday – by avoiding them altogether.
The hosts utilised their extra-long kicking game to help minimise the number of scrums, thereby stopping one of the Springboks’ favourite routes to supremacy. France’s tactic so nearly came good, only for the Boks to edge through 29-28.
England could either look to follow suit and try to pin South Africa deep in their own territory with smart tactical kicking – or shrug their shoulders and meet the challenge head-on. England’s scrum has improved out of sight in the past 15 months, a process initiated by Richard Cockerill in the Six Nations.
New scrum coach Tom Harrison has taken that groundwork and carried it forward in the Borthwick era. England are now viewed as stable and sensible scrummagers, who will hold firm in the engagement and wait patiently for a proper, legal contest.
Changing officials’ perceptions to that point was no mean feat and England deserve respect for overhauling a key traditional tenet of the Red Rose game. But South Africa boast one of the world’s best scrums so only a note-perfect coal-face performance will do.
Defuse the bomb squad
South Africa’s replacements bench fully justifies its widespread acclaim, and also the light-hearted nickname that underpins the importance of the eight players’ role.
Since Rassie Erasmus took charge of the Boks in 2017, the former Test No8 has championed his replacements as fire-fighters who can either finish off a win or turn a match on its head.
This is not just good branding either. The frequent change of an entire front-row just minutes into a second half puts opponents on notice of a fresh set-piece challenge.
No other team in Test rugby boasts South Africa’s strength in depth — and no one else utilises that power as impressively. England will know what is coming, but forewarned is hardly forearmed.
The only real route to combat is to accept the challenge and unload the bench too. Kyle Sinckler’s concussion just minutes into the 2019 World Cup Final left Dan Cole exposed against two sets of world-class front-row forwards. Cole and Sinckler are back for more, four years on, and will both be desperate to set the record straight.
Boss the breakdown
This process has to start far before any ruck or maul engagement. Ultimately any tackle-area success has to be prompted by winning big collisions.
This is where South Africa come into their own, with a plethora of massive forwards, including Eben Etzebeth, who are as mindful as they are meaty. Size matters, but so does what you do with it. England’s problem is that South Africa not only possess but also flaunt both virtues.
So England need to be smarter than ever in terms of when to take contact, and on whose terms. Pump the legs and drive through initial contact, stay on feet for as long as possible — and certainly off the ground if isolated and without support.
There is not really a way around that challenge, England just have to front up.
Head to the skies
England’s aerial kicking game will be one way at least in which they can seek to get across the gainline without having to smash through a green wall.
Kicking to recover possession will be crucial to England’s chances, and to that effect it is entirely plausible that Freddie Steward will return at full-back.
The Leicester star is not just safe as houses under the defensive high ball, but also a master at claiming lofted hoists on the front foot too.
Retaining an attacking high ball creates chances to turn a team, and these will be moments England can ill afford to waste.
