England have opted to bolster their starting scrum by picking Joe Marler and Dan Cole in the starting front row.
Marler and second-row George Martin come into the team in place of Ellis Genge and Ollie Chessum respectively.
The other change is Freddie Steward replacing Marcus Smith at full-back. Smith has been ruled out of the semi-final owing to a concussion he suffered against Fiji in the quarter-final.
England’s replacements are otherwise unchanged, with Alex Mitchell preferred as the starting scrum-half to Danny Care.
Starting XV: 15-Freddie Steward, 14-Jonny May, 13-Joe Marchant, 12-Manu Tuilagi, 11-Elliot Daly, 10-Owen Farrell, 9-Alex Mitchell, 1-Joe Marler, 2-Jamie George, 3-Dan Cole, 4-Maro Itoje, 5-George Martin, 6-Courtney Lawes, 7-Tom Curry, 8-Ben Earl
Replacements: 16-Theo Dan, 17-Ellis Genge, 18-Kyle Sinckler, 19-Ollie Chessum, 20-Billy Vunipola, 21-Danny Care, 22-George Ford, 23-Ollie Lawrence
The Springboks have announced a team unchanged from the side that beat France in their epic quarter-final.
Having trialled a 7-1 bench split twice previously this year, in order to massively bolster their pack late in games, South Africa are instead continuing with five forwards and three backs in the replacements to play England. The starting half-backs will be Cobus Reinach and Manie Libbok, with Faf de Klerk and Handre Pollard waiting to replace them.
Pieter-Steph du Toit and Mbongeni Mbonambi have recovered from injuries sustained against France. The back-row of Du Toit, Siya Kolisi and Duane Vermeulen was central to South Africa’s victory over England in the 2019 World Cup final.
Starting XV: 15-Damian Willemse, 14-Kurt-Lee Arendse, 13-Jesse Kriel, 12-Damian de Allende, 11-Cheslin Kolbe, 10-Manie Libbok, 9-Cobus Reinach, 1-Steven Kitshoff, 2-Bongi Mbonambi, 3-Frans Malherbe, 4-Eben Etzebeth, 5-Franco Mostert, 6-Siya Kolisi, 7-Pieter-Steph du Toit, 8-Duane Vermeulen
Replacements: 16-Deon Fourie, 17-Ox Nche, 18-Vincent Koch, 19-RG Snyman, 20-Kwagga Smith, 21-Faf de Klerk, 22-Handre Pollard, 23-Willie Le Roux
Hello and welcome to Telegraph Sport’s coverage of today’s World Cup semi-final as England take on South Africa at the Stade de France.
It is difficult to imagine a poor South Africa side, but cast your mind back to the troubled tenure of Allister Coetzee from 2016-18, and you will find they came close.
After suffering their greatest World Cup humiliation at the hands of Japan in 2015, the Springboks entered the rugby wilderness where they wandered blindly for near enough three years. It was Steve Borthwick, working under Eddie Jones, who masterminded that shock victory in Brighton.
In the subsequent years, the Boks were routinely routed by the All Blacks – including a harrowing 57-0 loss in 2017, and suffered the ignominy of defeat to Ireland, Wales and even Italy. But following the arrival of Rassie Erasmus and his lieutenant Jacques Nienaber in 2018, performances began to suggest that the Springbok tide may have finally turned.
With the Japan tournament fast approaching, one particularly frightening photo began to circulate on social media featuring a topless Springbok squad flexing their sizeable brawn. The results of this fitness masterplan – orchestrated by Aled Walters, now with England – were dubbed a “major warning shot to the All Blacks” by the New Zealand Herald. How prescient this would prove.
The All Blacks put an early pin in South Africa’s balloon winning 23-13 in the pool stages, as a result of which the Boks were written off as mere pretenders. But exactly six weeks later, they overcame Eddie Jones’s England to lift the World Cup for a third time.
In that final in Yokohama, England were thoroughly bullied by the Springboks. Ironically, South Africa prop Tendai Mtawarira admitted “maybe we’re the underdogs” ahead of the game. In the end, his scrummaging proved to be South Africa’s point of difference as England’s early replacement Dan Cole was left thoroughly humbled. It would prove to be The Beast’s last act in international rugby. Cole might have reasonably thought this would be his until he was recalled by Borthwick in January.
