Ben Earl has total confidence in "superhuman" head coach Steve Borthwick scheming England's perfect World Cup semi-final smash-and-grab raid.
The bullish No8 revealed England's players told each other: "Let's go to the World Cup final" after Sunday's 30-24 quarter-final win over Fiji in Marseille.
The blueprint required to topple South Africa on Saturday could not be more complex, but Earl is sure England can go toe to toe with the defending champions.
"Steve is superhuman in terms of preparation, in terms of plans," he said. "It never surprises me that everything is completely in hand.
"We just get told the plan and we bring it to life, and the amount of quality we have in our group is crazy."
The Saracens star's barnstorming 50-metre break effectively sealed England's passage past Fiji and into a sixth World Cup semi-final. Earl has emerged as England's form player at this World Cup, mixing aggressive breakdown play, furious ball carrying and a relentless engine to dominate the back-row arena.
His break allowed Farrell to slot his fifth penalty of a remarkable 20-point haul also comprising a conversion and a drop-goal.
As the players let their victory sink in, they told each other not to let this opportunity slip.
Deep in the bowels of Stade Velodrome on Sunday night, even before England knew their semi-final foes, the Red Rose men resolved to drive all the way to the final.
Asked what they said to each other, Earl replied: "Let's go and win the semi-final, let's get to the World Cup Final. We felt the support coming to Marseille, not the easiest place to get to, and how many English people were there?
“Think about how many people are going to be in Paris, it’s going to be nuts isn’t it. That’s the exciting bit and we’re going to recover well, have a bit of a different week in terms of that short turnaround and crack on.”
Earl could not force an England look-in as recently as the Six Nations. The 25-year-old had long been earmarked for Test stardom, but could never convince former England boss Eddie Jones to give him an extended run.
That same pattern looked about to repeat itself under Borthwick, only for the former Leicester coach to select Earl ahead of Alex Dombrandt for the World Cup.
Borthwick had told Earl to go away and work on his fitness, and several other points of his back-row play.
The gritty loose-forward has done that and then some, building a physicality and work rate that is almost unmatched in England white.
Earl forged a fine trio with Courtney Lawes and Tom Curry against Fiji, and is desperate for that unit to continue.
“I think questions were asked of the back-row after the Samoa game,” said Earl, referencing England’s sloppy 18-17 win to close out their pool-stage fixtures.
“Big-game players have to start standing up and we’ve seen Courtney and Tom do it on the big stage, and watching those boys in full flight is an absolute privilege.
“I’m glad we could all contribute on Sunday, and it feels like it’s the start of our journey as a three and, hopefully, we have two more big games to do it.”
