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Eddie Jones names unchanged England team for Rugby World Cup final as George Ford retains place
Eddie Jones has named an unchanged side for the World Cup final against South Africa in Yokohama on Saturday.
Kyle Sinckler, Jonny May and Owen Farrell have all recovered from knocks sustained during the semi-final victory over New Zealand, ensuring England will go into the match at full strength.
Jones, as expected, has retained the Ford-Farrell axis to spearhead his side’s attack.
It is only the second time in over three years that Jones has named the same starting XV. Indeed, the last time Jones named an unchanged side was in his first season in charge, for the Six Nations match against Wales in March 2016.
The only change to the match-day 23 is an enforced one, with Ben Spencer coming onto the bench as a replacement for Willi Heinz, who was ruled out of the match with a hamstring injury.
Ford, who had been dropped for the quarter-final victory against Australia because of the physical challenge posed by Wallabies centre Samu Kerevi, is retained after his outstanding display in the stunning 19-7 victory over New Zealand.
The Springboks will pose a similar physical threat in midfield through centre Damien de Allende but the retention of Ford will allow England to combat the aerial challenge expected and bring an extra attacking edge to the backline.
Farrell leads a side that contains 731 caps as England bid to lift the Webb Ellis Cup for the second time.
“It has been a good week, the players have been together a while now so it’s less about the volume of training this week, it’s more about sharpening the sword,” said Jones, who takes charge of his 50th Test match, only the third England coach to do so. His win rate of 80 per cent is the highest of any previous head coach of England.
“South Africa are a difficult opponent and we are going to have to fight really hard to win.
Replacements
Cowan-Dickie, Marler, Cole, Kruis, Wilson, Spencer, Slade, Joseph
“We know the physical part of the game is going to be important and the players will go into this game well prepared knowing how we want to play. We will go and play with no fear.
“South Africa will probably play a similar type of game they have played all tournament so we need be good in the arm wrestle and when we have the opportunities to break the game up, we are then confident and composed enough to take them."
This is the fourth time England have reached the Rugby World Cup final. They have beaten South Africa in their last two Test matches.
Jones insisted his team would play with “no fear”, irrespective of the enormity of the occasion.
"We've had four years to prepare for this game,” said Jones.
“We've got good tactical clarity about how we want to play, we're fit, we're enjoying the tournament - the only sadness is that the tournament is going to end.
"We're having a great time, we want it to continue, but it comes to an end so we've got one more opportunity to play well. So we want to play with no fear on Saturday, just get out there and play the game.
"We know South Africa aren't going to give us the game, they are going to come hard. We've got meet their physicality but we are looking forward to that and being able to impose our game on them.
"We can definitely play better, there's no doubt about it. The players know that. I have been so impressed by the preparation of players throughout the tournament and particularly this week, there's a steeliness about them but also a nice relaxed feeling because they know they've done the work so they can get on with the job.”
Jones said the squad would not change their preparations this week, as they try to retain a sense of calmness.
"No, we just have to go out and play. The great thing for us is we know we've done the preparation, we're ready for this occasion. We've spent four years getting ready for this occasion. That's why the players can be relaxed, that's why I can be relaxed because we know we've done the work but we are not relaxed about knowing what's in front of us.
"We know South Africa's going to come hard. They've got a history of being the most physically intimidating team in the world, so we've got to take that away from them.
"The boys know what's ahead of them, everyone knows what's at stake but because we've had such a good preparation we know we can go out there and play without any fear.
"I think that generally speaking the World Cup (final) is between the two best teams in the world, you have to win your pool and you've got to win a quarter-final and a semi-final so you've got to be at the top of your game.
"That means both the teams mentally, physically and tactically are ready to go.
“We have had a simple approach to this tournament. Every day, we try to get better. Every week we try to get better and each game is an opportunity for us to get better so we just have to continue down that track. We don’t have to worry about No. 1 rankings, we don’t have to worry about those sort of thing, it’s not a concern for us. The concern is can we get better tomorrow and then can we play better the previous week. That simple approach for us has worked. It frees us up, allows us to play with a discipline but also a freedom to use the skills in the team so that’s why we feel like we are ready to go on Saturday.”