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Spicy Curry and three other England versus Fiji talking points
By Liam Heagney
This Rugby World Cup can only be described as incredible. Seven weeks ago, when the dust settled on the Summer Nations Series and all the preparations were complete, you would have been subjected to a bruising pile-on if you dared to suggest that England – drowning in their brutally leaky defence and shackled by their brutally blunt attack – would be the last northern hemisphere team standing in the semi-finals.
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Yet, here we are with the No1-ranked Ireland eliminated, the hosts and favourites France squeezed aside and the much improved Wales tossed out across an engrossing quarter-finals schedule that left England the last Six Nations team standing. Extraordinary. Here are the RugbyPass talking points from their 30-24 win over Fiji in Marseille:
The RugbyPass mea culpa
We must kick off with a mea culpa. Having watched England live in-person all year, there was no way we envisaged Steve Borthwick would be able to get a wounded England back to some level of acceptable consistency. Their defence was a sieve, giving up 30 tries in nine matches, and tries scored were a rare luxury, just seven clocked up in their half-dozen outings before the finals.
Now, as semi-finalists, they are by no means the finished article. Their defence is still combustible in staccato-like bursts – Samoa scored two tries in seven minutes last weekend, with Fiji going on to grab two in a four-minute burst on Sunday – while their attack remains narrow with their wingers still only seldomly on the ball in the opposition half. Yet, the bottom line is they have doggedly found a way to win.
Of course, the calibre of the opposition along the way – essentially, four tier-two teams and an Argentina that didn’t get off the bus that September 9 night – can be questioned but England weren’t responsible for the lopsided World Cup draw and they have beaten what has been put in front of them.
That’s no mean feat considering the depths they have plumbed in recent times. You have to go back two years to find the last occasion they strung five consecutive wins together, adding November 2021 victories over Tonga, Australia and South Africa to summer success against USA and Canada, so this run of results they are currently on deserves kudos now that they have made the last-four of the World Cup.
They have repeatedly said something changed on August 31 when they flew into Le Touquet-Paris-Plage, that what had happened previously this year was suddenly all washed away. It was hard to buy into that seaside narrative but now that they are the last northern hemisphere team standing, there are deserving of credit for their perseverance.
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Of course, they could go out next Saturday night and take a shellacking from South Africa. The intensity of the action amongst the leading Pool A and Pool B teams is night and day compared to what has happened with the Pool C and D teams, so both England and Argentina will be very much the underdogs in their respective semi-finals against the Springboks and the All Blacks.
However, there is also the chance that the Boks and the Blacks expended so much mental and physical energy in getting the better of France and Ireland that they might struggle to scale the heights they have been reaching and instead drop down to English and Argie levels. Very intriguing.
Faz, Manu turn back the clock
In finding a way to win versus Fiji, England relied on a couple of rare things on a rugby pitch. Test centurion Owen Farrell had only even kicked three drop goals in his 109-cap career before Sunday, the most recent being against New Zealand in a November 2018 Twickenham defeat.
However, with England having surrendered their 14-point lead in the blink of a four-minute eye, he showed impressive composure in his 110th cap to channel his inner George Ford and land his lead-retaking drop goal on 72 minutes at the same end of Stade Velodrome where Ford had famously kicked his 10-minute drop goal hat-trick five weeks previously.
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The other rarity concerned Manu Tuilagi in his 57th Test appearance. Despite all his feted power in the carry, scoring tries hasn’t been his thing of late. After scoring three at the last World Cup in Japan, his ratio was very decent – 17 tries in 40 games until that juncture.
However, that strike rate had hugely levelled off in recent years, with the midfielder scoring just twice in 16 matches and none since injuring himself in the act of scoring when diving over against the Springboks in November 2021.
"I don’t really care what other people think of us, I care about the development of the team…"
– The Steve Borthwick reaction to England beating Fiji and reaching the Rugby World Cup semi-final versus South Africa. #ENGvFIJ #RWC2023 #EnglandRugby pic.twitter.com/W9H8gsWT2y
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 15, 2023
He has suddenly reignited an attacking spark, Sunday’s 14th-minute score following on from the sweeping break and assist he gave Ollie Chessum in Lille eight days previously.
Seeing Farrell and Tuilagi roll the clock back can only be a good thing for England. They have again illustrated how they are big-game animals and their experience will be hugely important next Saturday at Stade de France.
The standout player of England’s World Cup
England’s campaign still has two more games to run regardless of whether they win or lose versus the Springboks, but their player of the tournament is an award that has been already pocketed by Ben Earl.
It’s amazing to think this guy was surplus to requirement over the years under Eddie Jones and again in the early days of the Borthwick era, the back-rower getting shelved for the remainder of this year’s Guinness Six Nations after a couple of appearances off the February bench.
He came into the summer preparation as a player whose 15 Test appearances were all as a replacement, yet he is now going to Paris as a vital part of the England set-up after starting seven of his team’s last eight matches – and even coming off the bench against Chile he achieved more in his few minutes than the starting Billy Vunipola had managed.
Earl was at it again on Sunday, his engine purring all the way through to the denouement with that defence-into-attack break scattering the Fiji rearguard and setting England up for the final penalty kick in the total of 20 points contributed by skipper Farrell in the six-point win.
It was the other week in Le Touquet when Earl made the startling admission that he previously wasn’t fit enough for international rugby, going away last March, April and May to individually up his game in that department so that he was ready to impress by the time England got their World Cup preparations started.
So how do his World Cup stats stack up at a tournament where he has started three times at No8 and was at openside against the Japanese?
There have been 29 passes, 48 runs, 254 metres made, five clean breaks, 17 defenders beaten along with 60 tackles. On the debit side, there have been seven missed tackles, four penalties conceded and four turnovers conceded, numbers that aren’t a concern where there is so, so much good happening in the other areas of his game.
Spicy Curry too hot for Fiji
It was during England’s first base camp week at Le Touquet that Kevin Sinfield waxed lyrical about how Tom Curry was the squad’s best defender, a salient point given that the back-rower hadn’t played all year for the team due to injury.
Heaping praise on the Sale forward didn’t work that week. A third-minute red card and suspension were the sum total of his appearance against Argentina, but his rearguard value was there for everyone to see against the Fijians.
He hobbled off near the finish with a chart-topping 20 tackles and it was obvious how much of a spicy nuisance he was with even Levani Botia messily trying to get stuck into him in one second-half dust-up.
The old adage is that defence wins big games and that was very much the case with Curry. His work with the ball was limited to only four passes and not a single carry, but that doesn’t matter with players such as Earl and Courtney Lawes ably supporting him.
Lawes, for instance, made 42 metres off 13 carries to help ensure the back row cumulatively has all the necessary parts in their game as a combination and ultimately this just about had enough to edge out the very competitive Fiji.
Let’s just wait and see what happens.
All this jibber jabber about how rubbish England is and their easy path to the semis… it doesn't matter…it's a tournament and they're into the knockouts and face SA, their toughest challenge yet….doomed to failure. I guess we'll see if SA have already played their final against France, a la 2019 Eng v NZ…probably not but anything can happen on the day. I wouldn't be counting my chickens if I was SA, that's all!
I think its pretty much agreed that England are some way off the top 4.
HOWEVER.
In one off games teams can have an off day and upsets happen .
Borthwich changed the tactics and England were much better. It was a game for MEN with Fiji reknown physicality. Thats why wee george didnt get on . Farrell fronted up , as did all of them . It will stand them in good stead for S Africa.
Same team but dont get drawn into the physical stuff too much like Ireland did and who knows .
Great quarter finals .
There is only one England player that would get into a SA 1st XV.
Rankings of teams England have beaten to reach Semi-Finals (before RWC)
Argentina Ranked 6. Beat them by 17.
Japan Ranked 14. Beat them by 22.
Chile Ranked 22. Beat them by 71.
Samoan Ranked 12. Beat them by 1.
Fiji Ranked 7. Beat them by 4
Eng are avg at best. No tight 5. 1 decent loose forward in Tom Curry & the Clown - Ben Earl.
Backline not much to boast about either. Wingers are woeful. Nothing in the centres & Owen Farrel. Well its Owen Farrel.
Earl hasnt played in too many big games. European QF, Prem final. Few six nations games but mainly as a sub. The occasion might be a lot.
Reminds me a bit of a younger Kwagga Smith in terms of style.
Think this will be a serious step up oposition wise for him, but will be interesting to see. Even in defeat he could come out well.
Farrell and Tuilangi arent firing that well, more glimpses 2019 rather than consistency.
SA are better and England worse than 4 years ago. Miracles tend not to happen often, especially in Rugby.
I came in with hope but no optimism and I’m still there but with better performances than I though.