RWC News: England set to drop star playmaker, Boks coach turns heat up on coach, Frenchman's big Eddie admission

He might have been England’s linchpin against Argentina, but George Ford is set to be dropped to the bench for their quarter-final against Fiji.

The Daily Mail reports that captain Owen Farrell is set to wear the No.10 jersey, with Marcus Smith likely to be injected at fullback to give the side pace and spark. By doing so, he has ended the Ford-Farrell partnership at fly-half and inside centre.

That will leave George Ford, who led a 14-man English side to a stunning 27-10 win over Argentina by landing six penalties and three penalties, on the bench. While regular fullback Freddie Steward is expected to be left out of the 23 completely.

It’s a huge call from England coach Steve Borthwick, who managed to lead the 2003 world champions to four straight victories in Pool D.

George Ford is set to be dumped to the bench for England’s quarter-final against Fiji. (Photo by Jean Catuffe/Getty Images)

But the pressure is firmly on Borthwick’s side, particularly after scraping home by a point against Samoa on Saturday.

While they are the favourites against Fiji, Simon Raiwalui’s side knocked over England for the first time at Twickenham on the eve of the World Cup in August.

England will name their squad on Friday ahead of the Sunday fixture in Marseille.

Springboks boss turns up heat on officials

The South Africa director of rugby Rassie Erasmus has raised eyebrows after a not-so-subtle inference that France’s players simulate injuries to influence refereeing decisions.

The world champions will meet the host nation France in a mouthwatering quarter-final match-up, which is impossible to call.

With tensions on a knife edge, Erasmus delayed naming the Springboks team on Tuesday as they usually do.

He told reporters he did so for “tactical” reasons.

But the outspoken coach, who came under fire for releasing an hour-long video taking aim at Australian referee Nic Berry following the Springboks’ first-up loss to the British and Irish Lions in 2021, set the cat amongst the pigeons when he claimed France were “clever” with how they make it clear to referees when foul play is committed.

“I think the French are not playing a reckless game where they are on the edge of being too physical,” Erasmus said.

“What they do well is that when they get close to the high hits, they really show that to the referee.

“They do simulate sometimes a little bit which is clever and obviously works.

“I think they’re very clear at that, very good at that.”

Rassie Erasmus has turned the heat up on the officials ahead of the World Cup quarter-finals. (Photo by Clive Rose – World Rugby/World Rugby via Getty Images)

While Erasmus did not highlight any specific examples, two examples were thought to highlight Erasmus’ comment.

As recently as last week, the home crowd in Lyon managed to get Karl Dickson to overturn a try to Italy in the first half of their heavy World Cup defeat to France after scrum-half Maxime Lucu was hit high.

A second controversial example of France flanker Anthony Jelonch being hit high by Australia’s Marika Koroibete in the 2021 third Test also backed up Erasmus’ claims. Koroibete was shown a red card despite the initial hit being let go.

French staff and players have been asked for a response over the past 24 hours, with assistant coach Servat saying he “did not care” about Erasmus’ comments.

France lock Thibaud Flament said: “It’s not something I’ve really noticed. I think all teams seem to do it. It’s not something we prepare specifically or try and do. I don’t think it’s something that characterises our play.”

Frenchman’s blunt appraisal of Wallabies’ World Cup campaign – but it’s not all doom and gloom

Pierre Henry Broncan has opened up on the Wallabies’ disastrous World Cup campaign, saying they were doomed once Taniela Tupou and Will Skelton went down with injuries at training ahead of their clash against Fiji.

“We lose the World Cup the week we lose Tupou and Skelton,” Broncan told L’equipe.

“Our scrum and forward pack were much worse without them. We dominated the French scrum (in a preparation match on August 27 at the Stade de France) because we had Tupou and Skelton. Before that, we had dominated the New Zealand scrum for the same reasons.

“Unfortunately, the Australian reservoir is not the French reservoir. These two players were not replaced by players of the same profile. At least one of them would have been there, I think we would have beaten Fiji.”

Maul Consultant Pierre-Henry Broncan says the Wallabies have a big four years ahead of them. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)

In a wide-ranging interview with L’equipe, the Frenchman, who was in charge of the Wallabies’ maul that never got going, said Eddie Jones’ plans to back youth backfired but added that they had the potential to mount a challenge at their home World Cup in 2027.

“The team’s youth did not work at this World Cup,” he said.

“I think that in four years this team will be very competitive provided, in the four years, that we work a lot more than the Australian players do in Super Rugby.

“We see that the players who play in France, Will Skelton and Richie Arnold, have a much greater work ethic than the players who are in Australia.

“They [the youth] are not used to working under pressure, to being constant in their precision and concentration. We feel it well.

“They are used to working at high intensity, that’s not the problem, but it’s the precision that’s lacking. Tactical sense, too. There are very few tacticians among the players. It comes from the youth of this team, the lack of collective experience and the absence of pressure in their Championship.”

Broncan, who didn’t rule out continuing to work with Jones, said that the under-fire Wallabies coach, who has been linked to the vacant role with the Brave Blossoms, could turn the team around following their maiden pool exit.

“If Eddie stays, he will make this Australian team a big team in 2027,” Broncan said.

Pierre Henry Broncan says Rugby Australia must allow Eddie Jones to usher through the changes as he sees fit to turn the Wallabies into a World Cup threat in 2027. (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)

Broncan, who took Castres to the final of the 2022 French Top 14 before being let go less than a year later, said the bombshell report linking Jones to Japan didn’t impact on the team.

“It didn’t disturb the group at all,” he said.

“Eddie, we know his relationship with Japan. His mother is Japanese and lives in Japan, his wife too. He is a consultant or sports director for Suntory, one of the biggest Japanese clubs, he has coached the national team. The Japanese would really like to bring back Eddie Jones at the head of the selection, we know that. But he has always been 100 per cent committed to us.”

Broncan said Jones wouldn’t stay with the Wallabies if he didn’t feel like he could be empowered to make the critical decisions to change and improve the team.

“It will depend on what they are able to put in place,” he said.

“Eddie is a competitor. If he doesn’t have the means or if he feels that things will continue as before, it will be hard for him to stay. If he senses a real dynamic and a desire from Australian rugby to create a high-performance environment, I think he will be there.

“It will be up to Australian rugby to give Eddie Jones the capacity to train around forty players all year round, which the French team did after a disastrous World Cup in 2015.

“There was the establishment JIFFs then, with Fabien Galthié, the 40 players present to prepare for international matches. 28 to 30 players blocked, banned from playing at club level during the Six Nations, preparation which intensified around the France team. It has to be the same for Australia if they want to perform well.”

Jones last week told Australian reporters in Saint Etienne that the game needed reform to catch up to the rest of the world.