Highlights: England fend off Fiji fightback, heartbreak for France against South Africa
England defence coach Kevin Sinfield lauded No. 8 Ben Earl as one of the world’s best players in his position ahead of Saturday’s Rugby World Cup semi-final against South Africa.
The Saracens back rower made a big impact in his side’s nerve-racking 30-24 victory over Fiji in the last eight, making a crucial break late in the game that ultimately helped Steve Borthwick’s side edge back in front after throwing away a 14-point lead to go level.
“He has been a standout player across the tournament,” Sinfield said.
“If you named a World XV at this moment in time, he would be close to getting in it.
“The minutes he has played and the ground that he has covered, he has done a great job for us and that is on both sides of the ball.”
England are the only unbeaten team left at the World Cup and will go into Saturday’s clash in Paris as underdogs against defending champions South Africa – who beat the English in the final four years ago.
But Sinfield believes the England players can use the way they have been written off by some pundits as motivation as they bid to return to the final.
“We were thought of as outsiders back in August – we took it on the chin,” he said.
“I think throughout this five or six weeks together, we’ve made huge improvements and we know we need to be hugely improved again at the weekend. To get the job done.
“Some guys will use it at motivation but I think others will want to win because they want to win, so there’s probably a mix of personalities and motivations, whether it’s through fear or joy, you get a mixture of the two.
“I think the individuals will know which buttons they need to press for themselves.
“They’ve worked incredibly hard this last 19 weeks and I look forward to watching them go on Saturday.”
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