England have a genuine chance of winning this match today.
There is no such thing as an impossible task in rugby, but England will certainly have to raise their level significantly again.
If they play the way they have been, they will make life difficult for themselves, because South Africa are too strong and too powerful.
I loved being an underdog. I would love to be in this position now.
I was in this position many times in my career, where the team in the other changing room were better on paper. But rugby matches are not won on paper, and the better team does not always win.
When England played South Africa in the 2019 Rugby World Cup Final, Eddie Jones’s team had effectively already played their final in beating New Zealand in the semis.
England now need to hope that South Africa are the ones who have already played their final this time around, after their epic 29-28 win over hosts France in Paris in the last eight.
To have beaten France, who so rarely lose in Paris, and to have beaten the 80,000 people in the Stade de France and the hopes of a nation, too, it was a masterclass in rugby.
England props Joe Marler, Dan Cole and Kyle Sinckler are among those who played in the 2019 final, and they will have unfinished business.
It is huge testament to Cole that four years on, aged 36, he is not only back in the England fold, but he is strong, fit and playing as well as ever. His selection is not in any way sentimental.
To deliver the kind of superhuman performance England are going to need to win, you have to summon the motivation and inspiration from any source you can.
So, if bottling up all that hurt from Yokohama four years ago and losing the World Cup Final is what is required, then that is what is required. No one has to talk about that publicly, but it does not mean it will not be harnessed by England.
There was many an occasion in my career when I held onto the anger and emotion of losing a game, and brought it out in a little bottle and poured it all out before playing the same opponent again.
To have the chance to play that same opponent again in a semi-final, four years after that final, I think it is great. Men like Cole surely would have thought they would not get another chance like this.
If England are to have any chance of winning this match, their set-piece work must be as strong as it ever has been.
South Africa will have looked at England, and they will think they know exactly how Steve Borthwick’s side will play against them.
New Zealand thought they knew what was coming in the 2019 semi-final, too, and then England sprung a surprise right from kick-off.
England will need to innovate, because if South Africa make too many assumptions that will be a real opportunity. England have to feel they can seize this chance with both hands.
