England boss Steve Borthwick has insisted that he does not “care” about the public perception of himself and his team after reaching the semi-finals of the Rugby World Cup. Borthwick’s side defeated darlings Fiji 30-24 on Sunday as they fought off a scare in Marseille to move within two wins from lifting the title.
Many neutrals had been backing Fiji, having won over the rugby world with their swashbuckling style of play – especially in the victory over England in Twickenham this summer. Borthwick’s side had been painted as villains in some corners, but that suggestion did not seem to phase the head coach as he reflected on reaching the semi-finals.
“I don’t really care what other people think of us, I care about the development of the team,” Borthwick said. “I said this is a team and squad packed full of talented players who perform on the big occasion and they have performed on the big occasion.”
Going into the match, Billy Vunipola and Jamie George insisted that they had no qualms with being the bad guys if it meant they continued to progress through the tournament. “I would not say Fiji is their second favourite, I would say England is their first least-favourite team,” Vunipola said. “In terms of being public enemy number one, we are happy to take that mantle.”
While George added: “Outside of England, I think people probably don’t really like us too much. And we’re OK with that. It’s not like we sit in meetings and talk about it’s us against the world. I think the main focus is making sure our fans are very proud of the work we are doing. Anything outside of that we aren’t too bothered about.”
Their sentiments are clearly backed up by Borthwick, as England will go into their semi with South Africa as underdogs after the Springbok’s 29-28 win over holders France on Sunday.
England will need captain Owen Farrell at his best in order to reach the final, as Borthwick and his ‘public enemy number one’ team are more than willing to take on that tag as the coach lavished praise on his skipper after victory over Fiji.
“I think he is a fantastic leader, he’s the kind of leader I know I’d want to follow on to the pitch,” Borthwick said of Farrell. “I think he’s a brilliant player who thrives in the contest, and these big occasions, he just gets even better.
“So we’re very fortunate to have Owen as a player in this team and as our leader. And he should be very proud of his performance and the way he led this team.”
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