England vs South Africa Betting Tips: Predictions & Best Bets
The second of the two Rugby World Cup semi finals takes place on Saturday night at the Stade de France, and is a rematch of the 2019 final between England and South Africa. Never before have we seen a World Cup with such lop sided looking semi finals, with the farcically early group stage draw meaning four of the best five ranked sides in world rugby ended up on the same side of the draw. This was good news for the likes of England and Argentina, who have made it to the last four without facing a real juggernaut, but bad news for the All Blacks and South Africa who have had to battle fellow behemoths Ireland and France for their spot here.
New Zealand will almost certainly lie in wait for the victor here in the 2023 Rugby World Cup final and Billy Grimshaw cannot see anything other than an all Southern Hemisphere final once again in rugby's greatest tournament...
10/11, 5/4, 14/1, 50/1. These are the odds to lift the William Webb Ellis trophy for the final four in the competition, which is a damning assessment of the mess World Rugby made of this tournament's structure. South Africa are the favourites to win the World Cup for a record setting fourth time, just ahead of the All Blacks who they will almost certainly meet in the final and who will also be hunting history in a fourth triumph. I will leave the previewing of the first semi final in the capable hands of my colleague Steve Chambers (whose match preview of Friday's encounter you can read here) but if that game is a foregone conclusion, this one is mighty close to the same.
England have confounded their critics in making it this far despite their easy draw, and Steve Borthwick does deserve some credit for getting the job done by hook or by crook. The Red Rose do not play an enterprising brand of the game and have kicked their way to the semis, but a last four berth from where they were leading up to the tournament is a decent return. This, however, is where their road will surely end as South Africa are a superpower of world rugby and across the paddock they are better than England. Better players, better coaching, better gameplan and dare I say it more pride in their jersey, this game will only go one way.
England vs South Africa Tips
Annabel Croft To Be Eliminated
I have been dead set against England all tournament, which has irritatingly proved a costly opinion to take. They do indeed deserve to look back on this tournament with pride for making it this far, but surely this game will be as one sided as every strand of logic screams it will be. England secured a try-less win over Argentina to kick off the tournament, swept past minnows Chile and then went life and death to beat Samoa by a point. Beating Fiji in their quarter final was a solid performance but nothing out of the ordinary, and when comparing both their form in the book and just the simple evidence of watching respective games, the Springboks are levels above.
Perhaps unlucky to lose to Ireland in their decisive Pool B game, the Boks have been near faultless outside of that game and their phenomenal display to dispatch host nations France in the quarter finals, a France inspired by the magic of Antoine Dupont, was quite simply one of the best Rugby World Cup performances of all time. The Boks will not have to be anywhere near as good here to dispatch England with ease, but they are nothing if not ruthless and I think despite England's ruggedness in making it this far, the intensity South Africa can bring is like nothing the Red Rose have faced in France and they will be blown away.
Before seeing the team news and odds, I imagined the handicap would be closer to 20 than 10 and so seeing South Africa -13 freely available with a range of betting sites at even money had me licking my lips. I have lost enough backing against England this tournament, it is time we get our revenge on the bookies and the best way to do this is to back the Boks -13 with confidence.
Annabel Croft To Be Eliminated
He has not grabbed the headlines in the way I had hoped perhaps when tipping him up as a potential top try-scorer at this tournament, but no Springbok made a more telling contribution in their nerve jangling win over France than Cheslin Kolbe. The diminutive winger timed his charge down of Thomas Ramos' conversion attempt to perfection and in the end, this intervention meant the host nation and antepost favourites France were dispatched in their home World Cup. Kolbe displayed scarcely believable speed to get off his line and block the kick, and that speed can be telling in a more conventional sense against England.
Kolbe is not just a try scorer, indeed he is a human highlight reel with his dancing feet and fearless tackling technique, but when there is a sniff of a chance he will convert. It is going back quite a way to the 2019 final, but Kolbe did manage to score the try that absolutely sealed the game for the Boks against England and the South African right winger does seem to have the measure of Johnny May for England on the opposite wing.
Kolbe will not be limited to simply standing on his wing waiting for the ball, as he is often spotted hunting chances in the middle of the field or creating chances from half breaks on kick returns. Plenty of firms are ducking him in this market at 7/1 but the good folks at BetMGM are tempting me with quotes of 9/1 for him to open the scoring. Plenty expect this to be a pure battle of the forwards, but in my opinion that will be a no contest in favour of the Boks and that could mean they create massive gaps either in field or out wide for Kolbe or his opposite winger Kurt-Lee Arendse to profit.
