Joel Stransky has written off England’s chances of beating South Africa on Saturday and denying the reigning World Cup champs a chance to win an unprecedented fourth title.
Saturday night’s semi-final in Paris will be a rerun of the 2019 World Cup final in Japan, which the Springboks dominated to win 32-12.
England came into the World Cup in shaky form under Steve Borthwick – who replaced Eddie Jones as head coach last December – but are currently the only unbeaten team left in the tournament.
The Boks are back up to No 1 in World Rugby’s Test rankings for the first time in 15 months after they ejected hosts France in a thrilling quarter-final last week, and speaking to The Telegraph in the UK, Stransky believes that England won’t pose much of a challenge to SA.
The former Bok flyhalf is also not convinced that Borthwick has the tactical nous to go toe-to-toe with Rassie Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber.
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“England have made themselves quite a good competition side, they do the basics well but I don’t see any area of the game in which they are really strong,” Stransky told The Telegraph.
“I don’t see one element where they can dominate, they are a decent team but no more than that. They looked after the ball better against Fiji, but no part of their game sets them aside from other teams.
He added: “They like to kick the ball a lot, get territory and try to force mistakes. But against the better teams in the world, you need more than that and from what I’ve seen I don’t feel they have it,” he said.
“I would expect the Springboks to win comfortably. I think it will be an easier game than the amazing battle with France.
“For me, England are the weakest team in the semi-finals and it would be a major surprise for me if it’s not South Africa facing New Zealand in the final.”
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