By Edmund J. Rogers 
England head coach Kevin Sinfield hopes Marcus Smith will have time to recover for Saturday’s rugby World Cup semi-final match against South Africa.
Smith has been among several players transferred to intensive training in preparation for the start of preparation for the match at the Stade de France, but the English are cautiously optimistic about his ability to win the action for fitness.
The 24-year-old striker finished the quarter-final experience with Fiji with a swollen upper lip and a blindfold on his head after suffering a peril fall from Vinaya Harbosi forcing him to participate in the HIA which he missed.
The Harlequins player, who was dismissed from his usual position as a midfielder at the World Cup, bravely defended during a busy evening at the Stade Velodrome and claims to keep the number 15 shirt, ahead of Freddy Steward.
The Sinfield defenders coach insists a clearer picture of his will will emerge in the coming days after being joined by Johnny May, Manu Tuilagi, Tom Curry, Courtney lawes and Dan Cole, who missed the start of training on Tuesday.
“Marcus is good. He is one of those who was changed [on Tuesday], so we will have a clearer view of him the week, but fingers crossed that he is ready to go,” Sinfield said.
Sinfield: Underdog status gives England extra motivation
Regardless of whether Smith manages to recover in time or not, South Africa is clearly the favorite in the action for victory in Paris.
England were almost completely excluded from the list of contenders for the World Cup after an unsuccessful six-team campaign, which was after aggravated by a surprising defeat to Fiji in the run-up to the tournament.
Rid of these ghosts, the Sinfield defenders coach is now confident that England will be able to take advantage of the lack of anticipation and pressure in their favor on Saturday night.
“In August we were considered underdogs, but we took it to heart,” he said.
“I think in these five or six weeks together we have made huge improvements and we know that we still have to improve between now and the weekend. To carry out the work.
“Some guys will use it for motivation, but I think others will want to win because they want to win themselves, so it’s probably a mixture of personality and motivation, whether it’s fear or joy, you’ll get a mixture of both.
“I think people will understand for themselves which buttons they need to press.
“They have worked incredibly hard over the last 19 weeks and I can’t wait to see their work on Saturday.”
Sinfield is under no illusions about the scale of the tournament and believes that the Defending Champions of the tournament are playing the “best rugby”, but believes that England have enough strength to win a surprising victory over the Springboks.
On Sunday, at the Velodrome stadium in Marseille, Steve Borthwick had to suffer an incredible defeat against the Fiji team to qualify for the sixth semi-final of the rugby world Cup and thank Owen Farrell for helping to win the victory by a score of 30 to 24 and reach the quarter-finals.
However, now, after five wins out of five in the tournament, we have the most difficult task at the moment.
“We knew it wasn’t going to be an easy test, especially considering the draw,” Sinfield said. “They were either the hosts [of France] or the current cup holders, and we have the utmost respect for them, we think that this is a nation that plays the best rugby and shows excellent results in rugby.
“They know what they want and don’t hesitate to do it, and we are looking forward to the tests at the weekend.
“I think that during this world cup we have already had some body problems. After watching the weekend’s game, we evaluated what they would bring.
“There are guys in our team who have already had experience participating in them before.
“But in addition to that, we also have body data and we understand that this is an important part of the game.”