Maro Itoje insists South Africa are not infallible as he urges England to seize the chance to clinch a place in the World Cup final.
The rivals collide at the Stade de France on Saturday with the Springboks red hot favourites to retain the crown they won against England in Yokohama four years ago.
But Steve Borthwick’s men are the only unbeaten side left in the tournament and Itoje is convinced they have yet to play their best rugby since landing on these shores seven weeks ago.
“South Africa are a good team. They are the current world champions, they’ve had a very good World Cup,” the Saracens second row said.
“We’ve played them twice since 2019, they’ve won one, we’ve won one. We’re not talking about a team that has never lost, we’re not talking about a team that is without fault – they are a good team, but so are we.
“I believe there is still a huge amount of growth to come from this team and I feel we haven’t seen the best of us yet.
I believe that if we put our best out on the field, we are going to be celebrating on Saturday night— England second row Maro Itoje
“For us, it’s about imposing our game. We don’t want to sit back and just watch them do their thing, we want to be England rugby.
“I believe that if we put our best out on the field, we are going to be celebrating on Saturday night and have a positive night.
“When you get to these games, a lot of people say, ‘it’s just another game’. This isn’t just another game. This is a special game. People are aware of what’s at stake.
“These are special games and you don’t get many opportunities like this. It’s about us seizing the moment, being really present and taking any opportunities we get.”
Itoje is one of eight survivors from the starting XV that was routed 32-12 by South Africa in the 2019 final and while Saturday offers the chance to avenge that defeat, the 28-year-old sees no value in looking backwards.
“Different experience, different context, different opposition. It helps having the experience of playing in a semi-final before, but it’s completely, completely different,” he said.
“We have to play the game that’s in front of us. We have to play this South African team, not the South African team of however many years ago. This South African team, not the one that they may be after this.
“We have to be as individuals and as a collective, we have to be really present. We have to be really in the moment to deal with what we need to deal with.”
