VIDEO: England wary of ‘X-factor’ Kolbe in final; Boks won’t change tactics, says Erasmus
- 29 Oct 2019
England fullback Elliot Daly expects South Africa to give “X-factor” wing Cheslin Kolbe “as much ball as possible” when they face the Springboks in Saturday’s World Cup final.
Kolbe missed South Africa’s gruelling 19-16 semi-final win over Wales, a victory built on immense forward power and box-kicking, with an ankle injury.
But Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus indicated on Tuesday that Kolbe would come back into the match-day 23 and the 26-year-old could be one of two wings that England have to worry about, with Makazole Mapimpi having already scored five tries at the tournament.
Kolbe has previously impressed for Toulouse, where Daly encountered him playing for former club Wasps.
“I have played against him a couple of times in Europe, he is a good player with very good feet,” Daly told reporters at England’s hotel on Tuesday.
“He is one of their X-factor players and they will look to get him the ball as much as possible,” he added.
“I don’t think it will change their structure too much, but they will probably just try to give him the ball in space a bit more.”
England defence coach John Mitchell, who became aware of the 13-times capped Kolbe’s talent while working in South Africa, added: “He’s a fabulous player, well watched by a lot of fans because every time he touches the ball, he’s exciting.”
But Mitchell, the head coach of a New Zealand side beaten in a 2003 World Cup semi-final by an Australia team under the direction of now England boss Eddie Jones, warned: “One of the things you have to be careful of is that you can’t afford to change too much.
“We won’t be focusing on making a lot of changes because of his (Kolbe’s) presence but we are definitely aware of his strengths,” added Mitchell, who masterminded a brilliant England defensive display in their stunning 19-7 semi-final win over reigning champions New Zealand.
Jones suggested on Monday that “cunning coach” Erasmus could change tactics but the former Munster boss said on Tuesday he was not planning to make major alterations in either gameplan or personnel.
“No, no bluffing!” Erasmus insisted. “It’s probably exactly the same 23, with Cheslin Kolbe being one of the guys who comes into the match-day 23.
“There’s not a hell of a lot you can change in your tactics in two training sessions on a six-day turnaround,” he added.
“So you can expect pretty much the same from us on Saturday.”
Erasmus added: “We certainly accept that there are some things in our game we have to improve and we take it on the chin and keep on improving that.
“We accept criticism but we are also happy to be in a position to compete in the World Cup final, which is where we ultimately want to be.”
Erasmus said the Boks had “a full squad of all 31 players available and ready to play”.
“We’ll pretty much go with more or less the same team. We believe that’s the way we can get best out of the team,” he said.
“It is a bit horses for courses, but we also believe it’s also our most fit in-form, best available and best combination team.”
Erasmus insisted there were no mind games in revealing a potentially little-changed match-day 23 or in his comments on tactics.
