Now that the dust has settled, it’s time to reflect on the sublime 19-7 victory for England in their World Cup semi-final against the All Blacks.
It seemed like a huge mountain for England to climb. Indeed, when none of the journalists present at Eddie Jones’ press conference this week raised their hand after Jones asked whether they thought England would win this semi-final.
If there’s one coach you want heading into a World Cup semi-final against New Zealand, though, it’s Eddie Jones, who coached the Wallabies to their semi-final victory against the All Blacks in 2003.
England put pressure on New Zealand right from the get-go, with Manu Tuilagi scoring just 98 seconds into the match. With the conversion that followed, England were 7-0 up after only two minutes.
England could’ve got two more tries but both were disallowed by the TMO.
The first disallowed try was disallowed because Tom Curry was offside in front of the ball, technically obstructing Sam Whitelock who tried to tackle him. Sam Underhill was then able to go through and pop the ball over the try line. While any disallowed try is an annoyance, the decision was perfectly justified.
However, I couldn’t understand how what would’ve been England’s third try (if the TMO didn’t exist) was disallowed.
Five minutes into the second half, England were pushing the maul forward towards the try line well. Ben Youngs then collected the ball out of the maul before breaking through the New Zealand defence to score England’s second try. Like the first try, Nigel Owens saw nothing wrong with this.
However, Marius Jonker did. The ball was lost in the maul and was picked up again slightly forward and so the try was disallowed. This was a really strange decision and one that many fans of both camps disagreed with.
Without these disallowed tries, England could’ve won with a scoreline of at least 29-7 today.
England continued to drive for the try line whenever they had the opportunity but, whenever they felt that they couldn’t get past the All Blacks’ defence, they took their penalty advantage and went for penalty goals. Four of them were scored by George Ford today as England ensured that they kept the scoreboard ticking over.
New Zealand did have some possession of the ball but were thwarted by a tough English defence who managed to pressure the All Blacks into turnovers, interceptions and penalties.
The only major mistake made by England was their lineout in the 57th minute where Jamie George threw the ball straight over Maro Itoje’s head and into the hands of Ardie Savea who went over the try line to score New Zealand’s first and only try. Other than that, it was a brilliant performance from England.
So, England line up in a World Cup final for the first time in 16 years on Saturday when they will play either Wales or South Africa, who play their semi-final in Yokohama tonight. They should walk onto the field in the final with their heads held high knowing that they have the ability to beat either side, having beaten the All Blacks and the Wallabies in style in the knockout stages so far.
As a side note, the England rugby team have now followed the England cricket team in turning around a poor World Cup in 2015 where they got knocked out of the group stages to now be in the World Cup final. Can the rugby team follow in the cricket team’s footsteps and win the Rugby World Cup?
A nation watches in expectation.
FunBus
Roar Rookie
I think it was contentious, because it was by no means clear that Jamie George ever had his hand leave the ball. Once again it seems to be a case of an over-eager TMO thinking something 'might have' happened. That's not his role. It's supposed to be 'clear and obvious'. I don't think Marius likes England very much. That's 3 disallowed tries in two matches against the ABs.
Joshua Kerr
Roar Guru
I would like to clarify my position on the disallowed try which came from the ball being lost in the English maul and picked up again slightly forward. I now understand that this is why the try was disallowed. What I disagree with is the way the TMO is used. On-field referees are awarding tries, sending the fans of the team who has scored the try into raptures before the TMO says no, it's not a try. In this match, it wouldn't have made a difference but how would the game have changed if the All Blacks were closer? And would anybody really have been annoyed if the try was still allowed (apart from the ABs, obviously)? TMO in rugby and VAR in football are pet peeves of mine... Hopefully, there are no such incidents in Saturday's final between England and South Africa. Thank you to everybody who has taken the time to read and comment.
Joshua Kerr
Roar Guru
I suppose it's a sort of case-by-case decision - in this case, I would have awarded the try but I think that because it's an English try, I would say that. Depends on what the situation is - it was so marginal in this case.
Joshua Kerr
Roar Guru
Thanks for clarifying that DrJ. In which case, who knows whether or not to award tries that have been scored after a maul!
Kane
Roar Guru
I concede that it was a knock-on but it was still stupid to continually disallow English tries. So you would prefer them to not disallow trys with knock ons or obstruction?
DrJ
Guest
It might seem a bit harsh to be ruling on a "knock on" in a maul, however a maul is and has been adjudged for years to be marginally legal at the best of times. It is a very technical exercise and more often that not is incorrectly adjudicated, with players joining in front or beside the ball carrier. There is legally only one way to set and join the maul and that is from behind the ball carrier. The offence on Saturday was not a knock on, but offside as the ball was lost and traveled forward into one of his own players which put everyone of the players in front of him offside. Ref was following their protocol. Awarded the try coz he was unsited and asked if there was nay reason why he couldn't award it which there was.
Tom G
Roar Rookie
Personally I think it was nit picking at its worst. When officials have to resort to frame by frame analysis it’s losing the plot. I can tell you now that if the wallabies had copped that decision we’d have gone on about it for weeks
Joshua Kerr
Roar Guru
I concede that it was a knock-on but it was still stupid to continually disallow English tries. Did it really matter that the ball went fractionally forward? England still had possession of it. (Can I also add that several people in last night's Roar live blog on the match agree with me that the try shouldn't have been disallowed) TMOs and VARs have got too much of a hold on sport now to the point that you can no longer celebrate a goal or a try for several minutes after it has been 'scored'. It just makes things more confusing as well. Fortunately, these disallowed tries didn't affect England.
Jim
Guest
First final in 12 years!
Peter
Guest
You say that the ball was lost forward in the maul but you don’t understand why the try was disallowed. Which bit of “knock-on” don’t you understand?