England got the basics wrong. It’s that simple
Battered in the scrum, creaky at the lineout, flaky restarts...
THERE should be no recriminations over England’s defeat and performance yesterday, only lessons learned and a heartfelt acknowledgement of South Africa’s superiority on the day. The Boks were quite superb. This has been an excellent England campaign and they reached new heights against New Zealand last week but sport is a great leveller. At the elite level, if you get one aspect of your game wrong for a period of time you are gone. There is no way back, and that’s what happened yesterday.
England were out-scrummaged throughout the first half and for periods of the second. Not only were they marched back but they conceded five scrum penalties. You can’t win a game of Test rugby if your set-piece is being dominated to such an extent, especially as the lineout was also creaking badly.
England got the basics wrong and the frustration is that the basics have been their strong point this season. And of course that has a knock-on effect. You start throwing loose, under-pressure passes or you spill the ball at restarts just when you need to calm everything down and be ruthlessly efficient.
Did arriving late affect England and contribute to their nervy start? No. I was on the touchline and their warm-up was excellent, calm and in control. I was as surprised as anybody that England were so error-strewn in the first half. The nerves suddenly kicked in.
The Kyle Sinckler injury? Yes, that was a blow because he’s been great for England and to see a key man knocked out cold so early is unsettling. It also meant that Dan Cole, who has been conditioned to come on for half an hour towards the latter end of his career, was looking at a 77-minute shift. When was the last time he was basically required to go the full distance?
But the Boks had two key forwards helped off in the first half as well. That’s Test rugby.
Could England have selected differently bearing in mind that the Boks are always likely to target the scrum? That, I believe, would be a case of hindsight talking. Remember what an incredible job that England pack did on New Zealand. I don’t recall any objections when the England team was announced. Selection is always about balance. George Kruis might be more of a presence at scrum time than Courtney Lawes, ditto Joe Marler and Mako Vunipola, but Lawes and Vunipola can give you so much in those opening exchanges when you are looking to set the tempo of the game. This time it didn’t work, on most occasions it will. The bigger issue that England will have to consider is the strength and experience of the forwards on the bench. South Africa’s ‘bomb squad’ — the six forwards they have used off the bench all tournament — are essentially Test starters. Some people would have Malcolm Marx and Franco Mostert in their current world XV!
The South African pack lose nothing when they come on — in fact they often go up a notch. England just couldn’t combat that and it is something they will have to address.
I also wrote in my previews that this South African team knew the England guys better than almost any other team in the world. Many of their top players are key men for their Premiership teams, while others in France get to play top English clubs in Europe. They knew England’s strengths and weaknesses and from the start they decided they could beat England up front over the 80 minutes.
The Boks knew exactly how to take the pace out of the game and put the clamp on England, but then in the final quarter they demonstrated the full range of their talents with two brilliantly taken tries out wide — the first tries they have scored in their three World Cup finals. I’m so glad, with the game won, they let the handbrake off and demonstrated the extent of their genius. Let’s doff our caps here to an absolutely brilliant and comprehensive team performance. They did to England what England did to New Zealand a week ago.
The die was cast early. England were on the back foot and struggling a little for composure, and their one sustained period of pressure was midway through the first half when they mounted that 25phase attack close to the Boks line.
South Africa defended superbly, knew when to give up the penalty, and it felt like a massive moment when England failed to cross the line. A try then would have been a nerve settler and perhaps rattled the Boks, but it didn’t come and soon normal service was resumed. That was the only what-if moment in the game. It was a mighty uphill struggle after that and England couldn’t get a head of steam going.
No single player found that moment of inspiration that can kick-start a team effort and once again you wonder about the wellestablished World Cup tradition of teams failing to back up an outstanding semi-final victory seven days later — France in 1987 and 1999, New Zealand in 1995, Australia in 2003 and now England in 2019. This is not unknown territory.
I am reminded of that old Tour de France adage with the top cyclists having 100 units of energy or adrenaline to expend throughout the race and therefore you have to gauge your effort very carefully. Use up too much too soon and perhaps you might not have enough left for when you really need it at the end. England dug very deep indeed into their reserves against the All Blacks last week and perhaps there wasn’t quite enough at the end.
South Africa, in contrast, produced by far their best performance of the tournament when it counted most and it was impossible in the ITV studio not to enjoy and share the joy of Bryan Habana as he raced down to the touchline to embrace his countrymen.
Nor could you fail to be moved by the modesty of their captain Siya Kolisi and also the infectious good humour of Schalk Brits, whose drafting into the squad at the age of 38 was a masterstroke by coach Rassie Erasmus.
Brits was only ever going to be the third-choice hooker, however well he played, but his livewire presence in the squad was massive, just as it was when he arrived at Saracens all those years ago. He is a life enhancer and a galvaniser.
Ultimately, South Africa’s win was a triumph and victory we could all enjoy — even disappointed England fans — and it was a fitting end to a special tournament that overcame many difficulties to deliver on all fronts, physically and emotionally.
It was a privilege to be in Japan to witness much of it first-hand.