‘You have to attack it’: England get set for brutal tussle against South Africa

Monday morning, barely 12 hours after full time in their World Cup quarter-final win against Fiji, Marcus Smith’s lip still fat from one of the numerous whacks he received, and the England coaches have already held a meeting to plot a victory against South Africa that few believe they have much of a chance of pulling off.

They will hold another before the day is out and, while Steve Borthwick had started planning for both potential opponents last week, he can consign his French homework to the scrapheap. Up next in Paris on Saturday are South Africa: the side that bullied England off the field in the 2019 final, the side who have just dumped the hosts out of their own party and moved to the top of the world rankings as a result, the side who precipitated regime change at the Rugby Football Union – the defeat at Twickenham last November was Eddie Jones’s last in charge – and the side now as short as evens to successfully defend their crown.

It is not uncommon at this stage of the tournament for competing teams to run a mile from the tag of favourites but, in this instance, England seem justified in claiming the label of underdogs. On one of the rare occasions Borthwick’s mask slipped after the match he snapped “I don’t care what people think of us” when addressing the issue, but there is a difference between being unfancied and being written off. He is making it clear that he still has a problem with the latter in the buildup to the tournament. Suffice to say, he would do well to move on.

His players, meanwhile, are seemingly never happier than when their backs are against the wall. “When no one gives you a chance you’ve got an opportunity to stand up and go and take it,” the hooker Jamie George said. “It’s fantastic. We