Hipkiss to take centre stage for England

Leicester centre Dan Hipkiss could today be handed a place in England’s World Cup final team – barely two months after making his Test debut.

The 25-year-old Tigers prospect is favourite to replace injured Wasps wing Josh Lewsey for Saturday night’s Stade de France showdown against South Africa.

England head coach Brian Ashton is due to announce the starting line-up this afternoon.

Lewsey was ruled out after suffering hamstring trouble during England’s semi-final victory over France.

It is likely Ashton will retain Hipkiss, who came on for Lewsey just before half-time, with Newcastle centre Mathew Tait moving to the wing, although a recall for Sale’s Mark Cueto cannot be discounted.

Hipkiss, whose England bow came against Wales during the World Cup warm-up games in August, has impressed when given opportunities during the past five weeks.

And selection for the final would represent a colossal achievement, especially considering he suffered a career-threatening knee injury at the age of 17.

Hipkiss’ Leicester team-mate Ben Kay, meanwhile, accepts England must be ready for the major threat posed by revered Springboks second-row pair Victor Matfield and Bakkies Botha.

Matfield and Botha are widely acclaimed as the world’s most effective lineout combination, although Kay and Simon Shaw have also enjoyed a top-class tournament.

Kay said: “They don’t give you much space to win your own ball.

“They are very effective on their own ball, and it’s not a particularly complicated lineout – they’ve got very athletic jumpers.

“They don’t try to read you too much and get caught on the floor. They know who is going to go in the air, and they get in the air and cause you a lot of problems.

“Their two primary defensive lineout forwards are very good at covering through holes you would usually find a bit of space in, so they are definitely up there.

“Our lineout has been adequate. We’ve won the majority of our own ball.

“On occasions, we’ve driven pretty well, and the last two weeks we’ve shown we can stop teams driving against us very effectively.

“The South Africans are a different kettle of fish.

“It is an area they look to dominate matches in, and obviously we will have to step it up. We will probably look to compete a bit harder in the air than we did against France in the semi-final.”

Against all odds, England’s appearance in a second successive World Cup final sees Kay and 2003 colleagues Jason Robinson, Jonny Wilkinson and Phil Vickery on the verge of making history.

No country has ever successfully defended the world title, yet victory over South Africa would see England hold the Webb Ellis Trophy for another four years.

Kay added: “To have come into this tournament with everyone telling us we had absolutely no hope, right up to the last couple of weeks, then if we were to win it, it would be a phenomenal achievement.

“When people write you off as much as we’ve been written off, you do start to believe it slightly.

“It just shows the character of the guys that everyone has stuck together and given it their best shot.”

Having been crushed 36-0 by the Springboks last month, England then emerged unscathed from physically punishing encounters with Samoa and Tonga that meant they arrived in the knockout rounds ready to meet quarter-final victims Australia head on.

Kay said: “We know we had a terrible day at the office the last time we played South Africa, and I am sure that will be a spur to a lot of the guys.

“We had a fairly frank meeting after the South Africa game. Everyone got points off their chest and we didn’t leave the room until we had a direction to go forward.”