Ollie Phillips: England can beat the All Blacks and win World Cup

This is the big one. Eddie Jones has always said to judge him on this World Cup, and England’s semi-final with New Zealand tomorrow is the biggest match of his tenure.

The best two sides in the world meet in Yokohama and if Jones’s team win it will be absolutely enormous for England and for world rugby.

Jones has done his best to downplay his side’s chances and create distractions this week, but this game is four years in the making and there is a lot at stake, including a place in the World Cup final.

Both head coaches have been bold and brave in their selections and the return of George Ford to the England starting XV is a significant one.

Read more: What areas can England can exploit in their World Cup semi-final with New Zealand?

England ready to kick

The fly-half has been brought in for his ability to break the gain-line and kick accurately in behind the All Blacks. It’s a move with positive intent from Jones who drops Henry Slade, despite his great performance last weekend as England demolished Australia.

I expect to see a lot of kicking from England tomorrow to try and occupy New Zealand’s territory, while backing their own defensive shape.

Ford’s return also means Manu Tuilagi moves to outside-centre and having him further afield of the breakdown could pose New Zealand problems. It will leave more pressure on centre Jack Goodhue to manage him, with it harder for the All Blacks’ back row to get across.

New Zealand head coach Steve Hansen’s decision to start Scott Barrett at No6 is also a real sign of respect for England.

Not often do the All Blacks adapt for the opposition, but Barrett, normally a lock, will be starting in a position he has rarely played in order to boost New Zealand’s threat from line-outs.

All Blacks target line-out

England have a few weapons in their arsenal and their ability at the line-out is a big one, but New Zealand were able to disrupt it last autumn when Hansen brought Barrett on at half-time at Twickenham.

Tomorrow they will again have three massive jumpers in Barrett, Sam Whitelock and Brodie Retallick, not to mention Kieran Read and Ardie Savea who can come in as well.

Dropping someone of Sam Cane’s calibre, who was an understudy to Richie McCaw, is a massive call from Hansen but is one he feels will give them the best chance of winning.

He will hope they can disrupt England’s ball and cause Ford and Ben Youngs to panic and drop deeper, while winning their own ball will give them a platform to attack from everywhere.

But this is why Courtney Lawes has kept his place in the team ahead of George Kruis. He is massive, disruptive and destructive. It’s a shrewd move from Jones and as he said last week, modern rugby is a 23-man game and all the players on the bench, including Kruis, will be needed.

There is a huge positive aura around England and I genuinely think they are ready to win this game and the whole tournament.

Read more: England’s win over Australia vindicates Eddie Jones as he gets big calls correct

If they do, it would better even the achievements of England’s 2003 side, because they will have beaten the southern hemisphere sides of Argentina, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa – assuming they beat Wales on Sunday – on the way to winning the World Cup.

Woeful Wales

It does of course depend on whether the Springboks win their semi-final, but their opponents, Wales, were woefully bad last weekend.

It would be great to see an all northern hemisphere final, but Wales will need more than an elbow to beat the Springboks who were spell-bindingly good against Japan.

Warren Gatland can take positives from his side’s ability to grind out the win as they did against France but should not read too much into their four-match winning run against a much-improved South Africa.

Former England Sevens captain Ollie Phillips is a director within the real estate & construction team at PwC and founder of Optimist Performance. Follow Ollie on Twitter and on LinkedIn