"Mind games begin" - Rassie Erasmus predicts England XV for the Rugby World Cup semi-final

The playful South African found himself torn between Marcus Smith and Freddie Steward as he eagerly awaits Steve Borthwick's official team announcement on Thursday.

"Now, we're guessing, obviously. We took the basic guys – [Ellis] Genge, [Jamie] George, [Kyle] Sinckler, [Maro] Itoje, [Ollie] Chessum, [Courtney] Lawes, [Tom] Curry, [Ben] Earl, [Alex] Mitchell, [Owen] Farrell, [Elliot] Daly, [Manu] Tuilagi, [Joe] Marchant, [Jonny] May, Marcus Smith or [Freddie] Steward. That's who we think but we might be totally wrong," said Erasmus.

"Firstly, guessing their team it's interesting - Marcus, will he or Freddie play? Marcus has the massive X-factor while Freddie is unbelievable under the high ball. 

"Will Owen play inside centre with Tuilagi outside or will Ford play fly-half and drop-goal everything there? They've got Courtney who can play lock and flank, he's been such a rock at flank for them and they have the energy of the other two young loose forwards.

"They bring energy on the field in all departments. They've got Sinckler there, Jamie and so many experienced players who played against us last time. 

"I think because they played us end of year last year, and they played us at the Rugby World Cup and Rugby World Cup final, and I think they'll have some beef with us. 

"I think they'll be very physical, they'll definitely step it up in all set phases and then they have a team full of - Tuilagi, it'll be a big job to stop him regardless of what position he plays. 

"Then you have Farrell, and the new scrum-half and I'm sure Danny Care and Ben Youngs will be in the mix.

"But the new scrum-half is certainly someone who can light it up with his breaks around the rucks. There're threats all over the park and it's starting to get together for Borthwick."

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Former England lock Attwood has opened up on the latest RugbyPass Offload about his ongoing rivalry with Owen Farrell.

He revealed: "On the pitch, I struggle a lot with Owen Farrell. We just don’t see eye to eye on a lot of things,

“He hates me with a passion. Despite my earthy roots, he thinks I am a posh c***. He hates that. I bagged rugby league once jovially. I was saying it to take the piss kind of thing, ‘a bloody sport for the peasants’. He f**kin’ hated it."

He made 157 appearances in Blue, Black and White over an eight-year period during his first spell at Bath before returning in 2022

His debut came against Newcastle Falcons at the beginning of the 2011/12 season after arriving from Gloucester, scoring four tries in his first campaign

The lock quickly established himself as a key player in the Bath pack and excelled at international level too, with 22 of his 24 England caps coming whilst at the Re

The former England international has also played for Bristol (twice), Gloucester and Toulon during his established career

The Scotland back-rower was the instigator in some tunnel argy-bargy when the players returned to the changing rooms after the warm-up back in 2018 with Farrell at the centre.

Footage of the incident shows all hell breaking loose when Farrell barged his way past a number of Scotland players to confront Wilson, who had been attempting to get inside the head of George Ford.

Wilson later revealed he was banned from Twickenham following the incident.

“I remember that game, I was actually injured and after tunnel-gate, after everything that happened in the tunnel against England, I’d lined up a corporate gig at Twickenham,” he recalled to Rugby Pass in November.

“Had it all lined up, a little bit of cash, all excited, only to get a message back saying the RFU have banned you from Twickenham Stadium after everything that happened the year before.

The pair have what we can only describe as a love-hate relationship. As legendary as the 'best mates' videos were during the 2016 tour of Australia, Farrell certainly didn't seem to be enjoying it.

Farrell and De Klerk ended up at arm’s length from each other in 2018 during their summer tour just before the 20-minute mark and the rest of the two sides quickly joined in.

The pair have since clashes on multiple occasions, including during the World Cup final a year later. Klerk is clearly someone who gets under the England skippers skin and their appears to be little love lost between the pair.

Speaking about the pair, Tom Curry said they are 'very different characters'.