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Billy Vunipola on the brink as Montpellier finally lose patience
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Rassie Erasmus continues mind games by predicting England XV to face South Africa
By Josh Raisey
It is often said that South Africa are a team that are made for World Cups and knockout rugby, but so too is their director of rugby Rassie Erasmus.
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Springboks fly-half Handre Pollard revealed this week that nothing Erasmus and head coach Jacques Nienbaer do is “just for no reason” and that it is “all thought out, meticulously planned.” By that rationale, Erasmus clearly had a ploy when he named the England squad the Springboks are preparing to face in the World Cup semi-final on Saturday at the Stade de France.
Whether it is to get into England head coach Steve Borthwick’s head, the players’ heads or probably both, this is the latest move from a director of rugby who seems to revel in these situations.
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England have not been keen on chopping and changing their team too much this World Cup in the same way South Africa have, so this was not necessarily a difficult task for Erasmus. Nevertheless, he is expecting at least one change from the England team that beat Fiji on Sunday in Marseille, with Kyle Sinckler, who only lasted two minutes of the 2019 World Cup final before going off injured, predicted to start at tighthead prop instead of Dan Cole. Just like much of the rugby world, he is also unsure as to who will start at fullback between Freddie Steward and newly fashioned No15 Marcus Smith.
England team predicted by Erasmus
1. Ellis Genge
2. Jamie George
3. Kyle Sinckler
4. Maro Itoje
5. Ollie Chessum
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. Marcus Smith or Freddie Steward
Replacements:
16. Theo Dan
17. Joe Marler
18. Dan Coles
19. George Martin
20. Billy Vunipola
21. Danny Care or Ben Youngs
22. George Ford
23. Ollie Lawrence
