England v South Africa: Owen Farrell criticism unfair, says Richard Wigglesworth

Owen Farrell is unfairly criticised and has nothing to prove after leading England to the World Cup semi-finals, says attack coach Richard Wigglesworth.

Farrell's name was booed when the team was announced before England's 30-24 win over Fiji after he was chosen over George Ford to start at fly-half.

But the England captain's selection was vindicated as he went on to produce a man-of-the-match display in Marseille.

"He definitely doesn't have to prove anything," said Wigglesworth.

"We are lucky to have Owen. As ever, the tallest trees catch the most wind and he seems to catch a fair bit."

Farrell, 32, became England's all-time record points scorer in the win over Samoa in the final Pool D game before delivering an impressive all-round performance against Fiji.

The Pacific Islanders levelled the scores late on in Marseille before Farrell kicked a drop-goal and a penalty as part of a 20-point haul to edge his side clear and into a semi-final with South Africa.

Wigglesworth added: "He's proven time and time and time again and I don't understand why in England we feel the need to not celebrate that, not enjoy it, just because he's not sat in front of social media or the media lapping all that up.

"He is incredibly serious about his career and he's an incredibly proud Englishman. He affects any team he is in and he was brilliant for us - as we knew he would be.

"That was the maddening part of any noise. We knew what was coming from him."

England lost five of their final six games before the tournament began last month but scrum-half Danny Care says it "clicked" for the under-fire players once they arrived in France.

Veteran Care, 36, has played an important role off the bench in support of Alex Mitchell in England's run to the semi-finals in his second World Cup as a player.

"It clicked when we got over here," said Care.

"Training went up a notch, perhaps because of the severity of where we were and the realisation that we were at a World Cup - the last one for a few of us, the first for others.

"That mixture came together and we gave it our all. We feel like we deserve to be here. We are going to give it our all next weekend and try and make everyone at home proud.

"We have got a lot of lads who played in the World Cup final four years ago, a lot of lads who have won big trophies, won big games. We will use all of that next week to hopefully get another big win.

"We are delighted to be in the semi-final of this World Cup - one step closer to the dream."