England are just three days away from their Rugby World Cup semi-final meeting with South Africa and the build-up to the fixture has not been without controversy. Steve Borthwick’s side will need to be at their very best to stand a chance of beating the reigning world champions, who will be equally desperate to live up to their billing as pre-match favourites.
England are yet to name their starting line-up for the match and will have a number of key decisions to make when it comes to their backline. Owen Farrell played at fly-half against Fiji and produced a man-of-the-match showing to help England to victory, which suggests that George Ford could be left on the bench once again.
Marcus Smith, meanwhile, was deployed at full-back but remains an injury doubt to face South Africa and will be sorely missed if he is not deemed fit enough to play. The 24-year-old has been placed on a modified training programme over the last few days, with England defence coach Kevin Sinfield insisting that things are going well for Smith behind closed doors.
He said: “Marcus is good. He’s one of those who have been modified today so we’ll get a clearer read in the week, but fingers crossed he will be good to go.”
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