SOUTH AFRICA POWER TO EPIC WORLD CUP WIN
Ruthless Springboks seal record-equalling third title as error-strewn England stumble badly at final hurdle in Japan
South Africa produced a stunning performance to claim their third Rugby World Cup title after the forwards laid the foundations for a 32-12 victory in Yokohama by pulverising the England pack.
The Springbok front eight had the measure of their England counterparts in every department, dominating at the scum and forcing errors in their opponents’ lineout as they refused to let the prematch favourites get a foothold in the game.
England contributed to their own downfall in a match littered with handling errors.
Handre Pollard made them pay dearly, with the South Africa fly-half kicking six penalties and two conversions while wingers Makazole Mapimpi and Cheslin Kolbe both touched down for second-half tries as the Springboks lifted the Webb Ellis Cup for a third time, following previous triumphs in 2007 and 1995.
Owen Farrell kicked four penalties for England but they were chasing the match all evening due to South Africa’s superb game management, set piece dominance, brutal defence and almost flawless place-kicking.
England’s Eddie Jones, who was in charge of Australia when England won their only World Cup in 2003, becomes the first head coach to lose two finals.
The Springboks became the first team to lose a pool match at a World Cup and go on to win it, having gone down to the All Blacks in their tournament opener at the same Yokohama International Stadium.
Head coach Rassie Erasmus revealed belief in the squad had been steadily growing since they arrived in Japan that they could cause an upset.
“It’s weird, I didn’t think two years ago we could realistically do it, but six months ago began to and four weeks ago I really did. I am so proud of the players and my country. We stand together, we really believed it and I am proud to be South African,” said Erasmus, who will now step down as coach but continue as South Africa’s director of rugby.
“The country have gone through some bad times, and we have over the last two years, but our challenge is to make South African rugby strong for the next six or seven years.
“I will make this my mission to make this a springboard to take it the right way.”
England came into the match with huge expectations after the New Zealand win but were outplayed in all departments by the South Africans, just as the All Blacks were last week.
They suffered a huge blow when prop Kyle Sinckler went off with concussion in the third minute leaving their scrum all but uncompetitive against the Springbok pack with Sinckler’s
replacement Dan Cole given a torrid evening by Tendai Mtawarira.
South Africa made the most of the weakness, winning a string of scrum penalties and taking a 12-6 lead into half time whilst building a foundation.
Playing with far more ambition than in their semi-final win over Wales, South Africa scored their first try in a World Cup final at the third attempt, and it was worth the wait.
Lukhanyo Am, who has largely had to play second fiddle to centre partner Damian de Allende in Japan, gathered up a Mapimpi chip over the top before passing back to his winger to score his country’s first try in a World Cup final. Kolbe, who missed the semi-final against Wales with an ankle injury, then scored a scorching try with six minutes remaining to seal an epic South Africa performance.
The sight of Siya Kolisi, the first black player to captain the Springboks, lifting the trophy evoked memories of Nelson Mandela handing over the
Webb Ellis Cup to Francois Pienaar while wearing a South Africa No 6 jersey the first time they won the trophy on home soil in 1995.
Jones, meanwhile, was at a loss to explain such a crushing defeat. “I don’t know – it’s something that happens in higher level rugby,” he said. “We thought our preparation
I am so proud of the players and my country. We stand together, we really believed it and I am proud to be South African RASSIE ERASMUS South Africa head coach
was good but this happens sometimes and it isn’t a good day for it to happen. You can have the most investigative debrief of your game but they were too good for us on the day.
“We got in trouble in the scrum, we struggled in the first half, made some personnel changes in the second half and got back into it. We just couldn’t get on the front foot. We were dominated in the scrum particularly in the first 50 minutes. When you’re in a tight, penalty-driven game, it’s difficult to get any sort of advantage.
“We stayed in the fight and were in with a chance but for some reason South Africa were too strong for us. They were too good for us at the breakdown today. That’s the great thing about rugby, one day you’re the best team in the world and the next a team knocks you off.
“You can’t doubt the effort of the players, they were extraordinary, they played with a lot of pride and passion and I don’t know why we were caught short. Sometimes you never know. We didn’t meet our goal of being best team in the world, but we are the second best team in the world and that is how we should be remembered.
“We will be kicking stones for four years now and that’s hard.” Captain Owen Farrell, who kicked all England’s points via four penalties, was similarly nonplussed. “At the start, they had a lot of ball in right areas and put us under pressure,” he said. “After the first half we came in thinking we hadn’t fired a shot.
“In the second we felt like we were in game and got some momentum but not enough. We couldn’t get a foothold but they are a brilliant side and played brilliantly today.”