ENGLAND’S LIONHEARTS
Unbeatable photos and analysis of that momentous win
IT IS among the most intimidating sights in sport, but the aura of New Zealand’s fearsome haka was yesterday shattered by a smirk from Owen Farrell.
What began with a trace of a smile on the face of the England rugby captain ended with a roar of delight as England put the mighty All Blacks to the sword with a 19-7 victory in the Rugby World Cup semi-final.
Tens of thousands of England fans, many in fancy dress, crammed into the Yokohama stadium to see England serve up their greatest rugby triumph since Jonny Wilkinson’s dramatic drop goal crowned England as world champions in 2003.
As the final whistle blew, millions more back home in England – some in pubs that threw open their doors at 8am so fans could nurse the tension with a pint – celebrated.
Thoughts soon began to turn to an epic final clash next weekend with either Wales or South Africa, who play today in the second semi-final.
Within minutes of victory, the cost of flights from London to Tokyo soared from £1,093 to £1,624 and the cheapest tickets for the final almost doubled from £600 to £1,126.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson described the side’s performance as ‘immense’ and Sir Clive Woodward, the coach of England’s 2003 champions, hailed it as a ‘ complete performance’. For many, however, victory was assured before the game even began.
Typically, opposition players facing New Zealand stand shoulder-toshoulder on the halfway line to receive the haka, the ancient war dance in Maori culture, but England formed a ‘V’-shape with two prongs pointing towards the All Blacks.
England prop Mako Vunipola later explained that coach Eddie Jones had devised the strategy to show the All Blacks that Farrell’s men were not afraid. He said: ‘We wanted to be respectful but we wanted to also make sure that they understood that we would be ready for the fight.
‘But we knew we had to back it up. There have been a few times in the past when the All Blacks have had that done to them but then blown the opposition away… we knew it would rile them up.
‘It probably felt like we disrespected them, but we meant no offence. We just wanted to let them know that we were ready for the challenge ahead.’
Farrell said the ‘V’ formation had been carefully devised. ‘We wanted to keep a respectful distance but didn’t want to just stand in a flat line, letting them come at us.’
It is unclear just how respectful New Zealand felt Farrell’s smirk was – never mind the cheeky wink that All Black scrum-half Aaron Smith later said the England captain had given during the haka. Regardless, it seemed to unsettle New Zealand, who were seeking their third consecutive world title.
After just 98 seconds, Manu Tuilagi bulldozed through the New Zealand defence to score a try. With England dominant, the All Blacks failed to score in the first half of a match for the first time in seven years. England coach Jones, who had prepared his side in a hotel at the Tokyo branch of Disneyland, said: ‘New Zealand are the God of rugby, so we had to take it to them. They are a great team. They have won two World Cups in a row. They have got a great coach, a great captain, so we had to battle hard.
‘You always go in with an idea of how you want the game to be, but it never goes exactly like that. You have got to give so much credit to New Zealand, the way they kept fighting right until the end. We had to dig deep to win that game.’
Victory on rugby’s biggest stage comes only months after England’s nail-biting win in the Cricket World Cup. Many of the squad from that famous day at Lord’s i n July watched the game together and posted a video of their celebrations at the final whistle on Twitter.
Other cel ebri t i es, i ncl uding Superman actor Henry Cavill, paid tribute to the team, while actor Ross Kemp posted a video of himself screaming: ‘Come on England! Yes, yes, yes! I cannot tell you what that means!’
Astronaut Tim Peake tweeted: ‘So proud of England-Rugby – what an outstanding performance.’
And while New Zealand’s players looked shattered, even they could surely not have been as crestfallen as All Blacks fan Shaun Pollard – who had ‘2019 Rugby World Cup winners’ tattooed on his calf hours before his side’s defeat.