"They have already come out and said they want to fight fire with fire. I guess we return it by saying, 'bring it on'."
Tuesday 29 October 2019 16:27, UK
England number eight Billy Vunipola has responded to South Africa's promise to "fight fire with fire" by telling the Springboks to "bring it on" in the World Cup final.
The two teams meet in Yokohama on Saturday in a repeat of the 2007 final and Vunipola insists England's forwards are relishing their battle against the powerful Springbok pack.
"They are very, very big people but then again we have a few big blokes on our team," Vunipola said.
"They have already come out and said they want to fight fire with fire. I guess we return it by saying, 'bring it on'."
South Africa booked their place in the final with a bruising 19-16 win over Wales, while England reached the showpiece event with an impressive 19-7 win over defending champions New Zealand.
England outmuscled the All Blacks in Yokohama and Vunipola says he was spurred on by the physicality of his team-mates.
"It's something that you probably can't measure, but I think the best way to explain it is that it's quite contagious," he added.
"It shows everyone it can be done, so everyone else tries to follow in the slipstreams of (Sam) Underhill, (Tom) Curry, Maro (Itoje).
"It's very easy when you see it. A lot of people talk about it and it's easy to sit here and say we want to be brutal, but you have to back those words up."
Vunipola has never won a Test match against South African number eight Duane Vermeulen and the Saracens man knows the importance of winning the battle against his opposite number on Saturday.
"He's such a big player for them," Vunipola said. "I played against him last summer and he was monumental in terms of getting them those two victories [in a series the Springboks won 2-1].
"Not just myself, but we've got to try and negate the influence of him and everyone else around him."
