...BUT SATURDAY WAS THEIR BEST GAME EVER

Was Saturday’s sensational World Cup semi-final win over New Zealand England’s greatest ever performance? My answer would be unquestionably, yes. Great teams and performances are only possible when you have special players working in tandem and what you saw on Saturday was the vast majority of that England team producing their best-ever performances for England. When that happens collectively, it is unstoppable. When making this assessment I only feel qualified to talk about matches I have personally witnessed, because only then can you pick up the circumstances and vibe of a game. Because of that, I can’t really throw into the mix games such as England’s first ever victory in New Zealand in 1973 or South Africa in 1972. The other thing to note is the important difference between greatest performance and greatest achievement. Beating Australia to win the 2003 World Cup was that team’s crowning moment and greatest achievement but it was nowhere near their best performance. England on Saturday are top of the pile for so many reasons. Firstly, the circumstances of the game. A World Cup semi-final against the world’s No 1 team, a side looking to win their third consecutive World Cup. Indeed,

New Zealand hadn’t lost a World Cup match since the 2007 quarter-final against France. The stakes were incredibly high, which brings a need to perform at your very best — which builds the pressure. Not all sides can perform under that kind of pressure. At the heart of England’s display was the tempo they played the game at, best shown in that opening 97 seconds leading to Manu Tuilagi’s try. New Zealand never underestimate any opponent but even they could not have expected England to be that quick out of the blocks, to play and pass and think at that pace.

England hit New Zealand from every angle. They matched and surpassed them for pace and tempo, but with George Ford pulling the strings at 10, they still teased the New Zealand back three with a succession of clever kicks deep and into the corner. Suddenly even a phenomenal talent like Beauden Barrett was struggling to influence the game. There was a real feeling among the Kiwis that the All Blacks would have to go back to the drawing board, that the brand of rugby which had seen them rule the world for the last ten years was no longer fit for purpose. England caught them up and bettered it.