England winger Josh Lewsey says he is "absolutely gutted" a hamstring tear has prevented him from appearing in a second successive World Cup final.

Lewsey, who at played fullback in the 2003 RWC final victory over Australia, was forced off the field during the first half of Saturday's 14-9 semifinal win over France.

The 30-year-old was subsequently ruled out of the final against South Africa after his scan revealed a grade one tear.

"I'm gutted to be honest, absolutely gutted," Lewsey told reporters. "Not just because it's the World Cup, but until I went off only Ben Kay and I had played every minute.

"In the last four years a lot of people have made a lot of sacrifices and there's been some testing times over the last couple of years.

"To come through that and miss the final is pretty devastating but the main thing is to win and no one will be happier than me if we win. It's not the time to be self-pitying, you have to be positive."

Lewsey has been replaced by Bath fullback Nick Abendanon. The 21-year-old made his test debut as a replacement on the tour of South Africa earlier this year and won a second cap against France in August.

However, he is unlikely to feature in the final unless England suffers a number of injuries in the build-up.

Lewsey’s replacement will have a huge task on their hands, given that the Springboks possess two genuine match winners on the flanks – JP Pietersen and the tournament’s leading tryscorer Bryan Habana.

After Lewsey went off against France, Mathew Tait switched to the wing with Dan Hipkiss coming on at centre.

Tait is fast but not as defensively assured as Lewsey and Ashton will be anxious to disrupt his winning team as little as possible.

Ashton is scheduled to name his team for the final early Thursday (NZ time).