Brilliant England lauded by former skipper

Tokyo

– If England were to beat South Africa in Saturday’s Rugby World Cup final, it would be the greatest performance by anyone to date, former champion Lawrence Dallaglio (right) says.

Having dispatched Australia and New Zealand in the knockout stage, England need to take the third southern hemisphere scalp to lift the trophy for “If they were to beat Australia, New Zealand and South Africa no one could argue that that would be the greatest World Cup achievement ever,” Dallaglio told Reuters.

England also beat 2015 semifinalists Argentina in the pool phase.

Dallaglio came off the bench in their 2007 final defeat by South Africa. He said last Saturday’s performance was undoubtedly one of the best from his country.

“It was very, very impressive,” he said. “One of the all-time great performances, especially when you factor in the occasion, what was at stake and the quality of the opposition.”

Dallaglio said Saturday’s performance was the culmination of the last three years of development. The team have a “core of serial winners” – used to success for England and for Saracens.

But what they delivered in the semifinal was still of a “different dimension”, he said.

“What was so wonderfully refreshing was the courage they played with,” he said. “They had the mindset of ‘we won’t just beat you, we will totally beat you’.”

Much as he enthused about the performance, Dallaglio warned fans to temper their expectations of a repeat in Saturday’s final against a South African team who, as they showed in beating Wales, will bring a different threat.

“Nobody should expect England to replicate that,” he said. “It won’t be easy and it won’t be pretty. South Africa are very proud, very strong and will be a tough nut to crack. They’re not easy on the eye but they don’t need to make excuses for that.”

Dallaglio said the Springboks stick to a tried-and-tested pattern when in their own half but allow themselves a little more freedom when on the offensive over the halfway line.

“A lot of people predicted the Boks would win the World Cup so it’s not a surprise they are still here – even the pool game they lost to the All Blacks was a lot closer than the score (23-13) suggested.” – Reuters