Ollie: England not driven by revenge

2019 FINAL DEFEAT NOT A FACTOR IN SA CLASH, SAYS CHESSUM

- DUNCAN BECH

ENGLAND second row Ollie Chessum insists revenge is not a motivating factor for Saturday’s World Cup semifinal against South Africa.

The rivals collide for the sixth time in the tournament’s history with the most recent of those meetings taking place in Yokohama four years ago when Eddie Jones’ side were toppled 32-12 in the final.

Having demolished New Zealand a week earlier, England were expected to topple the Springboks but instead they were off the pace from the start and were overwhelmed as a consequence.

There should be at least eight survivors from that starting XV who take the field for the rematch at Stade de France, but Chessum denied there was a score to be settled.

“It hasn’t been mentioned much, certainly by me anyway. I wasn’t here in 2019 so it doesn’t motivate me,” the Leicester second row said.