Quote from Alex bobby on October 12, 2023, 8:44 AM

England stars have had their say on criticism as they look to defeat Rugby World Cup darlings Fiji on Sunday

England stars Billy Vunipola and Jamie George have insisted that they have no problem being public enemy number one as they look to send fan favourites Fiji home from the  RUGBY WORLD CUP on Sunday. The Fijians have won over plenty of supporters with their swashbuckling style of play, a contrast to England, but Steve Borthwick’s side are happy to be the bad guys in order to advance to the final four.

Fiji defeated England at Twickenham in August, a match that the team have watched again this week to get a better understanding of their opponent’s style of play. They also shocked Australia at the World Cup and have quickly become many supporters’ second-favourite team, after their own, though Vunipola rejected that idea and instead proposed a theory of his own.

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.

“We are seeing a lot of teams being talked up. Apparently there’s a top four in international rugby (France, New Zealand, Ireland and South Africa). I didn’t know that there was a table. We are quietly going about our work and confidently going about our work. Our plan is to play well firstly against Fiji and deal with whatever happens after that, after Fiji.

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His sentiments were shared by prop George, after former France star Olivier Magne was one of several to take umbrage with the style of play under Borthwick after their disjointed victory over Japan - labelling the team “ugly” and insisting that they play “repulsive rugby”.

But George is not worried by the wider rugby community rooting for Fiji to win on Sunday: “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.

Following the victory over Japan, Borthwick defended his side’s approach in a game in which they kicked 42 times and had a narrow one-point lead until the final quarter of the match.

“I think ultimately, players find a way and that’s the important thing,” said Borthwick. “In these conditions, it was challenging. Japan kicked the ball 37 times today. I’m not sure when you’ve seen a Japan team kick 37 times.

“We knew the fourth quarter was going to be the important one. We felt this game could be tight and we felt the fourth quarter was where we could accelerate.”