CHARIOTS OF FIRE Jones: We beat the gods of rugby
OWEN FARRELL and his England heroes stormed into the World Cup Final – and then promised the best is still to come.
An astonishing mix of power, pace and precision allied to suffocating defence saw England crush the two-time defending champions in
Yokohama.
Never had the
Red Rose nation b e a t en New
Zealand in a World
Cup before ransacking their hopes, and turning their dreams to nightmares yesterday.
“New Zealand are the gods of rugby,” Eddie Jones ( below) said after his side led from start to finish to set up a final against either Wales or South Africa.
“We wanted to take it to them, to put them on the back foot. Where this ranks as a performance we don’t know, we’re not historians.
“What we do know is that we can play better next week.” England had the All Blacks on the back foot from the moment they lined up in V- formation and closed in on them during the pre-match haka.
“We wanted to make sure they understood we would be ready for the fight,” said prop Mako Vunipola.
Referee Nigel Owens actually had to warn Joe Marler to move back in order that the men in black could perform the famous Maori war-dance.
“Hope they don’t live to regret that,” World Cup winner Matt Dawson said from the sidelines, saying what England fans were doubtless thinking. He need not have worried. Not on this day, in this town, with this team, for Eng land were simply sensational.
If New Zealand came into the contest as gods they left as mere mortals, so bruised that coach Steve Hansen appeared to offer out a journalist who questioned whether his players had turned up with the right attitude.
Condemning what he saw as disrespect, Hansen snapped: “If you want to spend some time outside I’ll give you a rugby education on that one.”
England’s mood could not have been more different after a