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Gerry Thornley: Unpopular Borthwick has free shot to upset favourites South Africa

Rugby World Cup semi-final build-up felt anticlimactic with hosts and best supported visiting side out of the tournament

England head coach Steve Borthwick (left) with captain Owen Farrell during a press conference at the INSEP in Paris. Photograph: Adam Davy/PA Wire

Gerry Thornley's face
Gerry Thornley
Fri Oct 20 2023 - 13:44

Although it’s an all too common, anticlimactic feeling by know, this week has not been easy. The closest comparison is perhaps 2011. That Irish team – with truly world-class wrecking balls like Sean O’Brien and Stephen Ferris augmenting an exceptional generation featuring Brian O’Driscoll, Paul O’Connell and the option of both Ronan O’Gara and Johnny Sexton – looked set for a first semi-final only for Dan Lydiate and co in an exceptional Welsh generation to chop them down in windy Wellington.

It was actually disappointing to come home a fortnight early from New Zealand and watch the semi-finals and final in the livingroom. On balance, it’s preferable to stay on even after the Irish team has gone home. It is a Rugby World Cup after all, and after the core had been ripped from Joe Schmidt’s team for the quarter-finals in 2015, it was a particular privilege to witness a vintage All Blacks team featuring Dan Carter, Richie McCaw et al beat South Africa in a gripping semi-final and Australia in the one of the more fluid and entertaining finals.

But after another mass exodus of the Irish media this semi-final week has felt even more empty than Japan four years ago. In fact, it’s the most hollow of all. Constant reminders of what might have been for Ireland’s best side don’t help.

Thursday’s English media day was another half-hour trek to the rather grandly named Institut National du Sport de l’Expertise et de la Performance to the southeast of Paris. It was the same place exactly a week beforehand where we had listened to the All Blacks love-bombing Ireland with compliments and dismissing notions of revenge, in sharp contrast to Reiko Ioane’s vengeful sledging of Johnny Sexton after the full-time whistle.

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The media’s standing in World Rugby/France 2023′s pecking order felt reinforced on a first visit to an English team announcement and hour-long series of press conferences. It was also very different from an Irish media day.

For starters, they began proceedings an hour and 15 minutes after the appointed 1pm slot with Ben Earl, who spoke well, and Joe Marchand, albeit without a hint of an apology. Steve Borthwick and Owen Farrell were last up and there wasn’t quite the anticipated frisson of friction between the head coach and the English media, nor the prickly post-match attitude after their 30-24 quarter-final win over Fiji in Marseille last Sunday which, almost bizarrely, maintained the tournament’s only unbeaten record.

“I don’t really care what other people think of us,” said Borthwick, echoing previous sentiments in their somewhat joyless pool campaign and, almost word for word, remarks by Eddie Jones after his final match in charge, the defeat by South Africa in November last year.

Similarly, according to The Guardian, Borthwick’s comments were a source of concern for his employers at the RFU, also bearing in mind some English fans booed when Borthwick and Farrell were shown on screen before last weekend’s quarter-final in the Stade Velodrome, when there were also 6,000 empty seats.

It was noticeable that Borthwick’s response to his very first question was a long monologue praising the support of the English fans and speculating on the exciting prospect of tens of thousands coming to Paris this week in England’s first visit to the French capital in this tournament.

“There’s a special atmosphere and a special feeling being in Paris ahead of this semi-final,” he added. “Our supporters have been incredible for us. From that first game of the tournament all the way through. After the game last weekend, all of the fans came down pitchside. They were loving it. I hope those of them who are going to come over and cheer this team on have a great weekend.”

It sounded slightly forced, and possibly after a word in his ear.

Of course, Borthwick has never been an especially charismatic character when facing microphones and/or cameras. Nor does his pragmatic, percentage-based kicking game stir the soul. But the RFU knew all this when they hired him to succeed Jones.

Even so it was a surprisingly dour hour or so on a lovely sunny afternoon in the INSEP, particularly considering England were the last European team standing out of four in what is feeling like a decidedly anticlimactic World Cup finale generally with the hosts and best supported visiting side out of the tournament.

There were still 2,344 tickets publicly available on the World Cup resale for this second semi-final as of lunchtime on Friday, ranging in price from €275 with a restricted view to €350 and even €550 for category 1 tickets.

It’s also probably the biggest free shot England have ever had in a semi-final. Borthwick, Farrell, Maro Itoje, Marchand and Earl were also all on point in batting away any notions of revenge, given Saturday night’s semi-final at the Stade de France against South Africa is a reprise of the final four years ago.

This will be England’s sixth World Cup semi-final, and they’ve won four of the previous five before losing the final in 1991, 2007 and 2019, while winning it in 2003. Maybe some countries are just a little more blase about playing in World Cup semi-finals than others, especially those who’ve never been in one.

Oh well.