Eddie Jones loves a target game. As Japan head-coach, he set his boys on a task to beat South Africa and write rugby history in Brighton in 2015. Four years down the line and he knew his England side would have to beat New Zealand at some stage to win the Rugby World Cup and managed this in spectacular style. No doubts, England absolutely outclassed the mighty All Blacks, ensuring New Zealand wouldn’t get a shot at a third consecutive World Cup title. Understandably, they took their place as favourites for the title this weekend.
Sadly, though they achieved this goal, they fell at the last hurdle against a South African side who executed their game plan terrifically, despite England having the upper hand on both territory and possession. England looked to struggle to get a foothold in the game as they boot of Handre Pollard kept things ticking over for the Boks.
Defensively South Africa missed 14 of their 154 tackles, whilst England missed 12 of their 98. South Africa also managed to amass 380 metres and 7 clean breaks off of 89 runs, (4.26 metres per carry) whilst England posted 173 metres from 122 runs and a meagre 2 clean breaks (1.41 metres per carry). These are the small margins that win World Cups.
Whilst England looked a little startled by the occasion, the South Africans looked calm and focussed on the job at hand. Two key men I expected to light the game up were Cheslin Kolbe and Makazole Mapimpi, who both crossed the whitewash and sealed the win as South Africa lifted their 3rd Rugby World Cup.
Leading up to the New Zealand semi-final, coach Jones claimed “We’ve been preparing for this game for two-and-a-half years”. That paid dividends, last week. However, the final looked to be one game too far and you just wonder whether they put too much mental energy into that one fixture last week.
Sure, they had to win it to get to the final, to have a shot. The problem is, if you put too much into one game, so much onus on one game for so long, it’s easy to take your foot off of the gas. As Warren Gatland said, “we have seen in previous World Cups that teams sometimes play their final in semi-finals and they don’t always turn up for the final”. It’s hard to disagree in this case.
It’s a tough one to call, would England have won last week, if they hadn’t put so much into that game? Personally, I think they could have. They built well into the World Cup and showed vs Australia that they can punish teams from anywhere on the field. In the final they appeared drained and were uncharacteristically sloppy, a total paradox to the side that convincingly dispatched of the All Blacks the week before.
On the other hand, plaudits have to go to Rassie Erasmus and his South African side. Many had written them off pre-match, as they looked far less sharp than England going into this game. I had personally predited an England win, though only by a margin of 5.
Against the odds, South Africa become the first side to win a Rugby World Cup, despite losing a game in the pool stages (they lost to New Zealand). It is also a mighty fine moment for captain Siya Kolisi, who this week shared fond memories of watching South Africa lift the World Cup trophy in 2007 from a tavern in his township. An immensely proud moment for South Africa’s first black captain.
The Scribbler, 20th October, 2019
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