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Sinfield also worked under Borthwick in Leicester’s 2021-22 Premiership win and is Rugby League’s top scorer in Super League history.
Rugby World Cup quarter-finals: England vs. Fiji |
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venue: Stade Velodrome (Marseille) date: Sunday October 15th kick off: 16:00 BST |
coverage: Live commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live and the BBC Sport website |
Defense coach Kevin Sinfield has warned England that quarter-final opponents Fiji pose a “real threat” to their hopes of Rugby World Cup glory.
Fiji defeated England for the first time in August with a 30-22 win at Twickenham.
“They’ve got some outstanding players, big injury threats, unbelievable athletes, and they’re playing with really good spirit,” Sinfield said.
England’s defeat against Fiji was their third defeat in four warm-up matches.
Mr Sinfield said the dissatisfaction surfaced during a subsequent debriefing session.
“When we reviewed it properly a few days later, we were all pretty disappointed and pretty emotional about what happened, this month, our preparations, and where we were. ” he added.
“We had a lot of trust and confidence in our team and we were disappointed that it wasn’t sent onto the field.
“The match on the screen was Fiji, but it wasn’t just about Fiji, it was a much broader message. It was about us, how we go about our business and maybe what we might need to do. I think it was about some changes not being made.”
“I think I’m pretty honest, balanced and fair in the way I coach, the way I review, the way I talk to players and my relationships with players. It’s just an honest assessment afterwards. , I don’t know if that had any effect.”
Since then, England have won all four of their World Cup matches, progressing through Pool D and progressing to the last eight.
Fiji beat Australia to take the second spot from Pool C and England head coach Steve Borthwick said the Pacific Islanders’ discipline was their trademark at Marseille, with offloads and big shots. I believe it has the potential to be as impressive as a hit.
Fiji only conceded a total of 35 penalties in their four pool matches, while their opponents had 60, all of which ended on the right side of the penalty count.
Meanwhile, in Saturday’s win over Samoa, England drew multiple fouls from referee Andrew Brace.
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Fiji advances to finals despite losing to Portugal in final pool stage match
“People don’t often associate them with Fiji but they’ve been phenomenal in that area and they’ve won a lot of penalties,” Borthwick told BBC Radio 5 Live.
“We need a deeper understanding of the interpretations applied on the pitch for specific scenarios.”
“I felt there were a few things that were a little confusing.
“That’s going to be very important against Fiji because we’re going to be fighting for the ball on the floor almost every breakdown, so we need to understand exactly how it’s going to be done. be.”
The winner of the quarter-final between England and Fiji will face either hosts France or hosts South Africa in the semi-final.