South Africa have won the 2019 Rugby World Cup in fantastic style 32-12 over England.
It was an incredible game where the Springboks used their biggest strengths to choke the English bit by bit over 80 minutes.
The first half was a demonstration of South African set piece dominance. They kept their game plan very simple using the boots of Faf de Klerk and Handre Pollard a lot to pin England back and create plenty of contestable kicks.
But what really caused England problems was the scrum. South Africa picked up three penalties from the scrum and Pollard slotted four penalties during the first half to build up the 12-6 advantage.
(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
In the opening exchanges England seemed to struggle to find the rhythm and accuracy of their previous games.
Handling errors crept in and the calm of the semi-final wasn’t there on the biggest stage.
Poor passing, dropped balls and a few bad choices made things harder for the English and the Boks just kept pounding and kicking away.
It was a first half of injuries as well for both sides as England lost prop Kyle Sinckler in the opening minutes, knocked out by friendly fire, and South Africa lost both Lood de Jager and Mbongeni Mbonambi.
As the first half went on the Boks kept kicking and the English struggled to get on the front foot.
They couldn’t pin the South Africans back with their kicking, nor could they find a way through an incredible green wall of defence.
England eventually found a way back in and had over 25 phases of possession inside the Boks’ 22. They couldn’t get the try, but it could have been a real shift in the match.
However, England’s inaccuracy haunted them again – at the restart Tom Curry knocked on and the Boks could immediately put the pressure back on them.
At half time the gap was six points and there was a way back for England for sure, but they had to sort out the set piece and find a way to get around the Boks defence.
They fought valiantly and up until the 66th minute it was still just a six-point game.
But then things changed. South Africa struck with a lovely counter attack down their left wing where Makazole Mapimpi showed his class first with a little chip kick and then with the support to take Lukhanyo Am’s return pass and score the first try of the match.
From this point onwards the game just kept slipping away from England and when Cheslin Kolbe got his hands on the ball in some space in the 74th minute he sidestepped Owen Farrell and then sprinted away from the covering defence to score the nail-in-the-coffin try for South Africa.
(Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
Ahead of the game there was plenty of talk about how South Africa could win this and while their game plan didn’t surprise anyone, their ability to execute perfectly was impressive.
Faf really sharpened up his kicking and the chasers always worked hard. The pack though was the difference – the loose and the set piece the Boks were impossible to stop.
The scrum dominance gave the Boks chances to score points, but more than that, their forwards bullied England all day long and the English could never get on top.
Did England play their best game last week? In truth, he Boks did to England what England had done to the All Blacks in the semis.
They never let them play the game they wanted to play and England couldn’t find away out from under the Boks pressure. That’s not England playing badly – it’s the pressure that South Africa put on them.
South Africa become the first team to win the World Cup having lost a game in the tournament, and they did it by sticking to a game plan that worked and executed it perfectly when it mattered.
It’s easy to start getting carried away with the importance of this match but there is something very special about seeing Siya Kolisi lift the World Cup for South Africa.
Their game plan might not have been as exciting as other teams but they are the ones holding the Webb Ellis trophy high above their heads, and you cannot argue with that.
England 12
Springboks 32
IvanN
Guest
Consider then that in 87, NZ won the cup - after being hammered by the Boks the previous year as the Cavaliers, in that 86 tour where NZ had their entire test team bar 2, they were even beaten by an SA Provincial team. I would wage a house that the Boks would have won in 87. Fast forward to 07, Boks were by far the best team in that tourney. 2011 - SA comes off the back of beat NZ 4x in a row in 08,09 - a Lions win in 09, and a rejuvenated team with veterans du preez, botha and Matfield giving it their final tilt. In steps NZ referee Bryce Lawrence who completely fluffs the QF with Aus and ensures that NZ got an easier semi, which they duly won easily - and repeat in the final. 2015 - SA loses narrowly to NZ in the semis. deserved winners in 2015 2019 - NZ loses to England, who were beaten by Wales twice in 2019. Aus lose to England, SA beat both England and Wales to win the title , to add to their RC2019 silverware. please tell me where they were fortunate ? NZ were off their best all of 2019, drawing to the boks - losing to Aus, struggling past Arg.
Ragnar
Roar Rookie
merci, nous Français avons de la malchance
Glenzo
Roar Rookie
He did show us - the world how to beat the All blacks and for that we owe a debt of gratitude.
pm
Roar Rookie
i was surprised by that too, thought they needed to get him into the play. But his field play hadn't been that great during this World Cup. He kicked well but didn't seem to be in his best form
Kane
Roar Guru
We will never know
ClarkeG
Roar Guru
Erasmus said post match that he felt SA's front rowers were maybe fresher owing to their management of playing time over the tournament
ClarkeG
Roar Guru
"nowhere did he show any humility / humbleness in any previous games" go on...bit harsh I think.
ClarkeG
Roar Guru
Perhaps the likes of you should then give more thought to your thoughts. Otherwise some people might think you're just as uncouth as the person you are replying to. Charming.
Diamond Jackie
Roar Rookie
Apparently not last night though
Kane
Roar Guru
I agree, it was a huge blow. Especially seeing how well he played last week.
SandBox
Roar Guru
No writing them off (ABs). They will remain strong. Just this seems the return of a powerhouse of rugby from the amateur era. It could end up a false dawn though
zubrick
Roar Rookie
I thought England would win this after their display against the AB's sinkler concussion really hurt the English scrum and boks took full advantage and ran away with it emphatically keeping England tryless to boot congrats to south Africa...very well done despite what the English press are saying garces had a great game three cheers for the boks and all their supporters and coaches
Ulrich
Roar Rookie
Thank you.
Johnb
Guest
Who holds the Ashes?!
Ulrich
Roar Rookie
Thanks mate. I look forward to the rivalry to continue. 100th Test match the next time our heroes meet. World champions as it may be for us, was world champions the other way round for 8 years. Only fitting, a final would have been more fitting, but unfortunately that did not happen. I was hoping for that. You guys are awesome and our greatest rivals, and you always will be.
Nobody
Roar Rookie
Maybe usually, but it’s not a sure thing is it? It was a bitter blow for England to lose Sinckler 4 minutes in.
Ken Catchpole's Other Leg
Roar Guru
Agreed about Sinckler, I felt a ‘sinking’ amongst the Roses when he went down. England didn’t show it but it was a body blow as deflating as an early try for mine.
Kane
Roar Guru
Apparently Coles is a better scrummerger than Sinckler
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
Kolisi is one of the most amazing stories in world sport, had to leave school in his early teens to help his ailing grandmother who was the one raising him and then she died with him looking after her, if not then for the private school scholarship would he have able to play rugby, then he had to go search and get legal guardianship of his own half brother and sister when his mother died.
Rugby Tragic
Roar Rookie
Ulrich Very generous comments, as a Kiwi, our greatest rugby opponents have always been South Africa for as long as I remember. I too am very proud of the All Blacks (not so for some of their fans), a defeat in a game will never deprive me of that. However, the Springboks are Rugby World Champions for at least the next 4 years and your country and team can never be deprived of that. We had our moment in the sun for the time being, now it’s your turn.