OFF-COLOUR DAZZLES
that the coin does not always fall the right way for England at the pointy end of a World Cup.
The fumbles and scrum issues must have had the thousands of English supporters who took over the International Stadium in Yokohama wondering about the thousands they had spent to be at this final.
They had travelled in such hope but in the end it was the flattest of parties.
On the bullet train to Yokohama, the bemused locals looked on in bewilderment as “Swing Low” filled the usually silent carriage.
Many of the white-shirted throng doing the singing had Japanese hachimaki head scarves on – cultural crossover in action at the first Asian Rugby World Cup.
If Japan was supposed to represent neutral ground in the battle of Africa versus Europe, the anthem volumes soon put that idea to one side.
For Prince Harry, who flew in for the final, it would have been warming to hear his grandmother’s song reverberating so powerfully around the stadium.
There are some sporting occasions when God Save The Queen can sound drab and plain.this was not one of those occasions.
The noise and passion before kick-off was phenomenal.what followed from England was anything but.
The Springbok supporters, massively outnumbered but rightly proud of their team, were the ones cheering at the end as the gong sounded for full-time.
For South Africa, it was a victory of huge significance with Siya Kolisi, their first black Test captain and the hero of the townships, raising the
Webb Ellis Cup in a triumph that will reverberate through all of the Rainbow Nation.
That should not be lost in the backlash of England’s defeat.
But for Farrell it will take days, weeks, months even to work out what happened to his world-beaters yesterday.
He may never do so.