Eddie Jones has named a rare unchanged XV for Saturday’s World Cup Final and called on his team to play without fear against South Africa as they bid to follow in the footsteps of the heroes of 2003 by becoming only the second England team to lift the Webb Ellis Cup.
Following two barren tournaments, England are in the final for the first time since 2007, when they lost to the Springboks. They reached this year’s final with a superb win over New Zealand in Yokohama last weekend.
This is just the second time in Jones’s 50-Test stint with England that he has named an unchanged starting XV. The only change comes on the bench, where the hamstrung Willi Heinz is replaced by Ben Spencer, who only arrived in Japan on Monday.
George Ford, who was so good against the All Blacks, gets the nod at fly-half again, while Kyle Sinckler is fit to start at tight-head prop, following a limited training week due to a calf injury. Jones described Sinckler as “absolutely buzzing”.
South Africa coach Rassie Erasmus has also made just one change to his 23, with the fit-again Cheslin Kolbe replacing Sbu Nkosi on the right wing.
| England | Position |
| Daly | 15 |
| Watson | 14 |
| Tuilagi | 13 |
| Farrell (capt) | 12 |
| May | 11 |
| Ford | 10 |
| Youngs | 9 |
| M Vunipola | 1 |
| George | 2 |
| Sinckler | 3 |
| Itoje | 4 |
| Lawes | 5 |
| Curry | 6 |
| Underhill | 7 |
| B Vunipola | 8 |
| Replacements | |
| Cowan-Dickie | 16 |
| Marler | 17 |
| Cole | 18 |
| Kruis | 19 |
| Wilson | 20 |
| Heinz | 21 |
| Slade | 22 |
| Joseph | 23 |
Of Kolbe, England captain Owen Farrell said: “When he gets the ball, the whole team has to be on their toes. Not just a couple of people around him. He makes things happen.”
Head coach Jones said: “We’ve had four years to prepare for this game. 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 it 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. 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 to meet their physicality, but we are looking forward to that and being able to impose our game on them.
"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.”
Jones is confident that his team can lift their game even further following the 19-7 win over the All Blacks. He said, having been together as a squad for many months, the final week had been about “sharpening the sword”.
“We can definitely play better, there’s no doubt about it,” he added. “The players know that. I have been so impressed by our preparation 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.
“We are like any team, we are a bit anxious, a bit nervous, but also very excited about the prospect of playing even better.
"Our whole mindset this week is about taking the game to South Africa, playing with no fear, asking ourselves, ‘Where can we take our game to? What level can we take our game to?’”
Captain Farrell, who remains at inside centre, said: “We need to build up as we have done every other week and, as Eddie said, we’re nice and relaxed at the minute.
"We’ve done all the preparation in terms of on-field stuff. We’ll make sure the mental side of it builds up from now.”
England and South Africa and their coaches have been nominated for World Rugby’s Team and Coach of the Year awards, to be presented in Tokyo on Sunday. Japan, Wales and New Zealand are also up in both five-strong categories.
