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| Ninja Boi | Oct 20 2007, 03:17 PM |
The Lego Master
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RUGBY WORLD CUP FINAL TONIGHT! England v South Africa Saturday, 20 October Stade de France, Paris Kick-off: 2000 BST Live on BBC Radio 5live and the BBC Sport website Defending champions England will aim to put the seal on a miraculous recovery with victory over South Africa in the World Cup final in Paris on Saturday. England have had a torrid time since 2003 but have ripped up the form book to reach their second final in a row. Their dire run reached a low point with a 36-0 thrashing by the Springboks, the 1995 champions, in the pool stages. England have brought in wing Mark Cueto for the injured Josh Lewsey, while favourites South Africa are unchanged. England's chances of becoming the first champions to successfully defend their title looked remote at best after that rout by the Springboks five weeks ago. There have been one or two changes tactically...will there be something different from us? Maybe Brian Ashton It was their fourth defeat in a row by the Boks but England coach Brian Ashton has no doubt his side will be a different proposition at the Stade de France on Saturday. "We are playing better, the players are much closer together, we've moved on massively," he insisted. "These players were written off before the tournament, during the warm-ups and in the pool games but they've come back and proved everybody wrong." The champions arrived in France after a four-year run which saw them plummet to seventh in the world rankings. Almost immediately after Jonny Wilkinson's last-gasp drop-goal clinched victory in 2003 the team was hit by a series of blows. Inspirational captain Martin Johnson retired and when winning coach Sir Clive Woodward rapidly followed him through the exit the decline had begun. The talismanic Wilkinson was hit by a series of injuries and with a combination of injuries and retirements removing other mainstays the World Cup winners began their tumble down the rankings. Jason Robinson tries top gather a high ball in the group game in September Jason Robinson has been England's most potent attacker in France New coach Andy Robinson struggled to reverse the slide and when he was axed at the end of 2006, the floundering champions had finished fourth in the Six Nations two years in a row and had become a laughing stock. Under Ashton England were inconsistent at best, beating France in the Six Nations but losing heavily to both Ireland and Wales. They lost both Tests on the summer tour to South Africa and went into the World Cup on the back of two warm-up defeats to France. A laboured win over the USA was followed by the humiliation against South Africa, but a series of team meetings in the immediate aftermath marked a watershed. England's pack looked increasingly impressive and with Wilkinson - now the World Cup's all-time leading scorer with 243 points - back from injury, they beat Samoa and Tonga to qualify second from their group. Ashton's men stunned first Australia and then France to reach the final but, despite their revival, South Africa will go into the match as odds-on favourites. They have a massive pack to match England's and although the champions may have the edge in the scrum, the South African line-out is among the slickest in the world game. The Springboks' powerful back-row gives them a physical presence at rucks and mauls and scrum-half Fourie du Preez - described by Ashton as the "fulcrum" of the side - reads the game superbly. Winger Bryan Habana, the tournament's leading try scorer with eight, is the most lethal finisher in the world game, while full-back Percy Montgomery is the top scorer in France with 93 points. England have weapons of their own and they also have the edge when it comes to experience. Ten of the starting XV were part of the victorious squad in 2003 although only Wilkinson, Jason Robinson, Ben Kay and Phil Vickery started in Sydney, along with Lawrence Dallaglio, who is on the bench on Saturday. South Africa coach Jake White said it would be foolish to write off a team which can call on that much experience. "England players have won a World Cup away from home before. They've got guys like Dallaglio, (Joe) Worsley, Robinson, (Mike) Catt, Vickery - all those guys being there is a huge advantage," he said. Being in the final is not good enough - we want to go out and perform and retain our trophy England captain Phil Vickery "They must be in a great mindset. They came back, they beat Australia and France in two consecutive weekends." The key to England's revival, along with Wilkinson's return to fitness after he was forced to sit out the first two games, has been the performance of the mighty pack, with prop Andrew Sheridan and second row Simon Shaw in outstanding form. Sheridan is being tipped to get the better of huge South Africa tight-head CJ van der Linde at the scrum. In the battle between Shaw and Bakkies Botha - both 6ft 8in and over 18 stone - the England man's athleticism could prove decisive. The Springbok defence lines up as England look to pick and drive England could find no way through South Africa's defence last month The clash between blonde bombshell flankers Lewis Moody and Schalk Burger could be seismic in its impact all round the field. In contrast to Ashton, who was tinkering all the way through to the knock-out stages, South Africa coach White knew his 1st XV for months before the tournament began. Of the side which thrashed England in the group stages 13 are back for the final, while nine England players get the chance to avenge that defeat. "I'd like to be able to erase the memories of a 36-0 defeat but unfortunately they don't go away," said Vickery. "But whatever has happened in the past counts for nothing, it's a one-off game. "We thoroughly deserve our chance but being here is not good enough - we want to go out and perform and retain our trophy." Ashton said in his final news conference on Friday: "All in all it's been a very good, relaxed week's training. "There have been one or two changes tactically, which I will keep to myself for you to hopefully see tomorrow, but we're feeling good. Will there be something different from us? Maybe." England: Robinson; Sackey, Tait, Catt, Cueto; Wilkinson, Gomarsall; Sheridan, Regan, Vickery (capt), Shaw, Kay, Corry, Moody, Easter. Replacements: Chuter, Stevens, Dallaglio, Worsley, Richards, Flood, Hipkiss. South Africa: Montgomery; Pietersen, Fourie, Steyn, Habana; James, Du Preez; Du Randt, Smit (capt), Van der Linde, B Botha, Matfield, Burger, Smith, Rossouw. Replacements: B du Plessis, J du Plessis, Muller, Van Heerden, Pienaar, Pretorius, Olivier. |
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7:41 PM Nov 24
