Danny Care insists England’s underdog status will go straight out of the window in Saturday’s Rugby World Cup semi-final against South Africa.
England held off a stunning Fiji comeback to prevail 30-24 here in Marseille yesterday, to reach the last four at a World Cup for the sixth time.
Tries from Manu Tuilagi and Joe Marchant sent England into a 24-10 lead at Stade Velodrome, only for Peni Ravai and Vilimoni Botitu to crash in two scores in four minutes to level the match at 24-24.
Owen Farrell landed a drop-goal to nudge England back ahead, then sealed the win with his fifth penalty of an astute performance.
Now England will take on South Africa in Paris on Saturday night, in a re-run of the 2019 final, where the Springboks prevailed 32-12.
Steve Borthwick’s side will be looking to make it a fifth World Cup final for England, but to do that they will have to dislodge the defending champions and ultra-resolute Springboks.
South Africa will be installed as favourites for the contest, but Harlequins scrum-half Care insists tournament knockout rugby renders such tags null and void. Ireland had been heavily backed as one of the World Cup favourites, only to lose 28-24 against New Zealand in the Saturday night quarter-final in Paris — a cautionary tale Care believes can hand England hope.
Asked if underdogs and favourites carry little weight now, Care said: “Absolutely. The Ireland-New Zealand game was one of the greatest World Cup matches ever, and neither team deserved to lose.
“Ireland were brilliant, but when you’re playing knockout rugby, when you’re playing teams like New Zealand, who can score a try in an instant, it’s all about the here-and-now, the 80 minutes.
“Anything can happen. It’s a game of rugby. We’re going to embrace the challenge and fly into it.”
England were outscored three tries to two by Fiji, who crossed in the first-half through No8 Viliame Mata.
Captain Farrell delivered a first-class performance at fly-half, however, to pilot England around the field and ensure Borthwick’s side ultimately prevailed.
England suffered their first-ever defeat by Fiji as recently as August 26, the 30-22 reverse at Twickenham proving a chastening final World Cup warm-up clash. Borthwick insisted England would be ready for their World Cup challenges, however, and so far, so good for the former Test captain.
“I think the character of this team was questioned before the World Cup and whether we had anything in us to come out here and do anything,” said Care.
“Hopefully, we’ve quietly gone about our business and ticked off a few wins. Four wins from four games in the pools, a fifth now in the quarter-final against a team who everybody was saying could surprise us and beat us.
“It’s all about the weekend now. We’re know we’re going to have to play incredibly well, and we’re looking forward to it.”
Asked whether he could have imagined England reaching the semi-finals before the tournament, Care said: “It clicked when we got over here, training went up a notch.
“Perhaps because of the severity of where we were and the realisation that we were at a World Cup, the last one for a few of us, but the first for a few others.
“That mixture came together and we gave it our all. We feel we deserve to be here. We’re going to give it our all at the weekend now, and try to make everyone at home proud.”
Care missed the 2019 World Cup and had thought his Test career over, but aged 36 he will now step into his first tournament semi-final.
“The last six months I’ve been back in I’ve genuinely loved every minute,” said Care.
“I didn’t want the journey to end yet, I still don’t want it to end now. We’ve got two more weeks and a massive game this weekend to fly into, which will be the biggest game of my life. I can’t wait.”
