Springboks end Test drought with win

To be honest it just sounds like sour grapes from you, something you (rightly) often criticise others for on here. Cole was dominated in the scrum immediately, not after he got tired. I’m still not sure how having a worse scrummager playing would have solved the huge issue of your scrum. As for selections, I think it’s arguable as to whether there were any errors, but either way I’m not sure of how it would have changed the outcome in a match in which England were outplayed from 1-15, and in every facet of the game. If Sinckler had played the 80 it may have been closer, but then again it may not. If you take out the dead rubber in South Africa in 2018 and Coetzee’s tenure, England’s only win since 03 came from what is generally acknowledged as a refereeing error at Twickenham in 2018. In the longer context the 2019 outcome went even more to script.

If you know you're going to be on for 78 minutes as a tighthead, no matter what, you have to pace yourself. That means you can't go hard at every scrum, or tear round the field like you can if you know you're going to be on for 50 minutes, which is often the norm for tightheads. That combined with Jones's selection errors was all that was required at that level to hugely tip the balance.

Not sure replacing Cole with an inferior scrummager would have changed the fact that England were comprehensively outplayed in every facet of the game and constructed out of the game. I thought the match went to script as one would expect.

19-7 destruction? Better then 57-0 beating? What is a destructive beating is in the eyes of the beholder I suppose?

Cole knew he had 78 minutes in front of him with no possibility of substitution.

Wasn’t Cole a better scrummager than Sinckler? To be honest that final went exactly as I suspected. With the exception of Coetzee’s brief stint England have been South Africa’s bunnies for years. The third test win in South Africa and against a second string side after it was wrapped up and a narrow victory after the referee incorrectly IMO didn’t award South Africa a penalty to win the test in Twickenham papered over the cracks for England against the Boks.

everyone in NZ would agree with you...

Ja, he made a marked difference when he came on. The man can scrum! He’s looking like a raging bull ready to charge at “red”.

still got beat though...!

Depth was actually the most vital factor in the RWC. The best four teams DID qualify for SFs. The two teams with lesser depth faded, and then England’s bench wasn’t as strong at 9 and front row.

Marler and Kruis should have been selected and Lawes to ‘6’. The key was Sinckler off after 2 minutes, though. I suppose it’s possible that with three different selections Sinckler might not have been in the exact spot to pick up an elbow from Itoje. Selection is part of winning a RWC, though. It’s like saying if I hadn’t dropped that ball…

It is not trolling… it is just pointing out the fact that SA took the cowards option. The Argies showed up and played very well while the boks hid behind a BS excuse. They lied to to their “partners” and world rugby so save face because they knew they were not as good as everyone thought they were.

I dunno - go through the team Tonga had on the field - some good players but that wasn't a rugby match - it was a training run. Poor Tonga struggled to lay a hand on the AB's for quite a lot of the game. They were too fast and too smart. Probably good for the AB's - they got to execute a game plan and set piece under match conditions - that said I wouldn't take anything of meaning out of that match in terms of how they will perform later in the season - except for maybe some of the combinations and selections...

There’s an art to it – I think player for player any one of the qrt final teams could have won that world cup if they played their best two games in a row and had a game plan that worked on the day. One team did – you have to respect the cleverness of the game plan and the commitment and execution of it. The Boks played the game plan they needed too and executed it with faith, precision and most of all patience. Whatever anyone says those 15 guys won that final – that makes them world champs until a different team wins the next one. It’s not easy and it deserves respect.

Rhino, doesn’t Malherbe look good? I know it’s just GA, but GA can scrum. Frans looks like he’s ripping to go and get Wyn Jones.

Georgia is not a bad team. I’d probably stack them right next to Italy?

Actually, the English win in the semifinal was very good, but if you watch it again, you won’t see it as a hammering, after the opening burst. That opening smash was exactly what England needed to beat SA. As Eddie says, he probably needed to switch a few things. Dead legs?

Bongi is the better set piece operator. Malcolm plays 40, after set piece established.

Same bomb squad that won the RWC. Where did the ABs end” Oh yes, third nipple with no milk.

The same can be said of the ABs against Tonga.