Ben Earl insists England have noted their absence from composite Rugby World Cup teams as they look to prove their critics wrong in Sunday’s World Cup quarter-final against Fiji.
England completed their group campaign with a full set of four victories yet few are expecting them to challenge for South Africa’s global crown despite being placed in the easier side of the draw.
Earl has been Steve Borthwick’s star performer in France and would be pushing hard for inclusion in teams comprising the World Cup’s best players, but the general snub has not been overlooked by the squad.
“You see a lot of stuff on social media about world XVs and stuff and there’s probably not a huge amount of representation from England in that regard,” the Saracens back row said.
“A lot of people don’t think there’s that many of us in there. You always want to be in those conversations. In terms of voicing concerns about it? Not really. We know a lot of our team have been in those positions before.
“It’s just an opinion, but at the same time we know the quality we’ve got. We know that on any given day, when some of the players we have got on our team turn up we become a very, very hard team to beat.
“These are the stages that we want to be involved in. You find out a lot about your team-mates, find out a lot about yourself. We’ll be expecting big performances.
“We’ve been speaking a lot all week about it being time for our big game players to start turning up. We’ve all got a responsibility to do that.
“It’s kind of now or never. No one wants to be flying back to London on Monday morning, so we’re going to out there and perform our best and see what happens.”
Danny Care is among a number of senior players who could be making their final appearances for England and the veteran scrum-half admits there is no margin for error against Fiji, who stormed Twickenham 30-22 in August.
“It’s what you dream about, being involved in games like this. It’s the chance of a lifetime,” Care said.
“We’re fully focused on Fiji and we have to be because we know how dangerous Fiji are. If we’re slightly off it, then we will be going home. That’s the stark reality of it.
“We know the significance of this game and how much it means to us, how much it means to the people back home. We’re dying to get out there.
“For someone like me, you know this could be the last time I put on an England shirt so I’m going to give it my all.
“Any time I play for England, it means everything. But when you know you’re kind of coming to the end of your journey in that shirt you want to do yourself proud and your family proud.
“I want to make it worthwhile that I’ve been away for five months and you don’t do that by coming home after the quarter-final. We’re really excited to get out there and show what we can do.”
'World-class' Scotland will provide Wallabies' sternest test – Skelton
Australia will face their sternest test to date when they continue their autumn tour against a "world-class" Scotland team at Murrayfield on Sunday.
That is the view of forward Will Skelton, who believes the Wallabies' victories in England and Wales have brought a new energy and confidence to their camp.
Having crashed out in the pool stage at last year's World Cup in France before finishing last in the Rugby Championship, Australia have looked a team reborn in recent weeks.
A first victory at Twickenham since 2015 and a 52-20 rout of Wales – their biggest-ever away win in matches between the teams – have made it an excellent tour to date for Joe Schmidt's side.
But La Rochelle lock Skelton feels their toughest assignment is to come this week, saying: "We've won two games, we're very aware of that.
"The Test against Scotland is going to be the hardest one yet. We're excited about this weekend and we're looking forward to ripping into it.
"Physically they're up there with the top five in the world. I think set-piece wise they're really strong.
"You've got a guy like Finn Russell who's a maestro at the back there. I think it's going be a close one and we'll be up for it.
"There's some class players in the Scottish team and, when they're at it they're world-class, so we're going to have to be on top of our game."
Mbappe must improve to 'follow Ronaldo's path' at Madrid, says France World Cup winner Candela
Kylian Mbappe can "follow Cristiano Ronaldo's path at Real Madrid" if he works harder, according to former France defender and World Cup winner Vincent Candela.
The former Paris Saint-Germain forward has endured a tricky start to life with Los Blancos since making the switch as a free agent.
Despite scoring eight goals in 16 appearances across all competitions, Mbappe is yet to truly catch fire at Santiago Bernabeu, where his displays have been subjected to widespread criticism.
The France forward has underperformed his season's expected goals (xG) total by 2.04, while he was left out of Les Bleus' squad for their recent Nations League matches after failing to find the net in his last four appearances.
Mbappe is averaging a goal every 166 minutes in all competitions this term, compared to one every 88 minutes in his final campaign with PSG, and was flagged offside eight times during the humiliating 4-0 defeat to Barcelona in October.
Candela, who was part of France's squad that won the 1998 World Cup, says Mbappe must up his game in the Spanish capital.
However, the 51-year-old is confident his compatriot will do that and, if he does, can potentially emulate a Madrid icon, who became the club's leading scorer and won four Champions League titles during his glittering spell.
"He has to work harder in Spain. He can still grow and become a stronger player," Candela said in an interview with RB Sports, via Diario Sport.
"At Real Madrid, Mbappe is a player among others, while at PSG, he was an icon.
"I hope Mbappe can follow Cristiano Ronaldo's path at Real Madrid, but it's too early to compare them. First, he has to win the Champions League, as the Portuguese has done several times."
Wales must 'show courage and front up' against South Africa, says Gatland
Warren Gatland has urged Wales to "show real courage and front up" in their final Autumn Nations clash against South Africa.
Gatland's side bring the curtain down on a disappointing year when they welcome the reigning world champions to the Principality Stadium on Saturday.
Wales have lost an unprecedented 11 straight Tests, and could go an entire calendar year without tasting success for the first time since 1937.
Gatland has made four changes from last weekend's 52-20 defeat to Australia, with Sam Costelow, Rio Dyer, Christ Tshiunza and Taine Plumtree all coming into the starting XV.
Gareth Anscombe, Aaron Wainwright and Cameron Winnett drop out of the squad, while Adam Beard misses out through injury.
And Gatland wants his players to demonstrate fighting spirit against the Springboks.
"Last week's result hurts, and we are just as disappointed by it as the fans," he told reporters during his pre-match press conference.
"Our focus now is on training and preparing well for our final game of this Autumn Nations Series.
"There were good elements that we can definitely build on going into Saturday, but we have to improve our accuracy.
"We know what a quality side South Africa are and the physicality they bring. This week, we need to show real courage and front up against the world champions."
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