BEAT ALL BLACKS AND CHANGE HISTORY
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Eddie Jones has urged England to knock New Zealand off their perch and replace them as the dominant force in world rugby.
Jones has described the All Blacks as the greatest team in sport but has called on his players to “change history” in tonight’s World Cup semi-final.
Jones on Thursday confirmed his decision to recall George Ford for England’s first World Cup semi-final for 12 years and reiterated his belief that no one outside the camp believes they are capable of beating New Zealand, who have not lost a match at the tournament since 2007 and are bidding for an unprecedented third consecutive title. The All Blacks are also ranked No 1 in the world– a position they held for 10 consecutive years until Wales and Ireland enjoyed spells at the top shortly before the start of the competition.
England, on the other hand, have not occupied top spot for 15 years and have not beaten the All Blacks since 2012.
Last year they lost their only match against New Zealand under Jones, going down by a point
SIR ALEX’S INFLUENCE
Jones, however, believes England can establish themselves as the world’s best. Before the World Cup started he invited Sir Alex Ferguson to address his squad and in echoes of the former Manchester United manager’s claim that usurping rivals Liverpool was his greatest achievement, he said: “When you’ve been involved in rugby the country you want to knock off is New Zealand, because they’ve been the best. And the reason you’re involved in this game is you want to be the best. “You’ve got the opportunity to change rugby history. We’re not the best in the world, but we’ve got an opportunity on Saturday to go a step further.
“I don’t think (rugby) needs it but I think we need it.”
MIND GAMES
After Jones had claimed earlier this week that his side had been spied on in training and that pressure was chasing New Zealand “down the street”, the All Blacks head coach,
Steve Hansen, returned fire by reminding England of their failure to get out of their pool at their own World Cup four years ago. But Jones, who beat the All Blacks five times in 11 matches when in charge of Australia, countered: “We are ready for the game, we’ve had two-and-a-half years to prepare for this game. (Thirteen) of our players were involved on the (2017) Lions tour. “Every game they play at the Six Nations the other country is coming for them.
“This is a big game, let’s not doubt that, but our players have had big-match experience. They’ve failed, they’ve had success and that’s one of the big things I like about this team. We’ve had to learn from those wins, those losses and Saturday it’ll be tested again. “We want to write the script, we don’t want to be watching it, we’ve got to be in there writing it.”
The first semi-final kicks-off at 8pm.
LINE-UPS
England: 15 Elliot Daly, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Manu Tuilagi, 12 Owen Farrell (c), 11 Jonny May, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Billy
Vunipola, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Tom Curry, 5 Courtney Lawes, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Jamie George, 1 Mako Vunipola
Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Joe Marler, 18 Dan Cole, 19 George Kruis, 20 Mark Wilson, 21 Willi Heinz, 22 Henry Slade, 23 Jonathan Joseph
New Zealand: 15 Beauden Barrett, 14 Sevu Reece, 13 Jack Goodhue, 12 Anton LienertBrown, 11 George Bridge, 10 Richie Mo’unga, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read (c), 7 Ardie Savea, 6 Scott Barrett, 5 Sam Whitelock, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Nepo Laulala, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Joe Moody
Replacements: 16 Dane Coles, 17 Ofa Tu’ungafasi, 18 Angus Ta’avao, 19 Patrick Tuipulotu, 20 Sam Cane, 21 TJ Perenara, 22 Sonny Bill Williams, 23 Jordie Barrett
MATCH OFFICIALS Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales); Assistant referees: Romain Poite (France), Pascal Gaüzère (France); TMO: Marius Jonker (South Africa) - The Guardian