Few observers expected the English to attend such a celebration this Sunday, October 15. Winner of the Fijians (30-24) in a thrilling quarter-final of the Rugby World Cup, the XV de la Rose will face France or South Africa, on Saturday October 21, at the Stade de France, in Saint- Denis (Seine-Saint-Denis) for a place in the final in the competition. Not bad for a team that was said to be moribund…
But the British will not start as favorites in their next duel. The latter fell into the most lenient part of the table of the tournament, which allowed them to gain strength over the matches. However, they have come a long way. Arriving in France full of doubts after a series of defeats which cost Australian coach Eddie Jones his place – replaced in December 2022 by Steve Borthwick – the selection reassured itself by stringing together four successes in the group stage. Even if the team won a founding victory (27-10) against Argentina, this revival remains fragile as shown by the difficult successes against Samoa in a group (18-17), then against Fiji on Sunday.
“Some staff have had four, even eight years, to put their game in place. We only had three or four months. The attack is always what takes the longest because it requires cohesion”, Steve Borthwick repeated over and over again, at the start of the World Cup. The former second line can nevertheless rely on an experienced and disciplined group. Thirteen of the twenty-three players on the scoresheet against Fiji participated in the world final lost to South Africa (32-12) in 2019. The XV de la Rose also only conceded one just over eight penalties per match, during the group stage, the third best total.
Owen Farrell, custodian of the English game
The coach advocates a restrictive game, focused on the domination of his forward pack in the winning phases (touch, scrum), solid defense and kicks like it’s raining. The English defense is, it is true, rather impervious. The team conceded just three tries in their first four matches – the best total – before conceding as many against Fiji.
But England is above all a team that plays on foot: 135 times during group matches, more than 30 times per match on average. Steve Borthwick is a fan of dispossession: a tactic which aims to spend as much time as possible in the opposing camp, in particular to avoid exposing oneself to penalties. A strategy far from being unanimous, even among its own supporters.
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