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England player ratings vs South Africa - RWC final

By Alex Shaw
Owen Farrell can hold his head high after a solid showing in Yokohama (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

Despite owning the tag of favourites coming into the game, there was nothing England could do to stop the power and precision of South Africa in Yokohama, as the Springboks wrapped up their third World Cup title with a 32-12 win.

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From early handling errors and a beleaguered scrum, England were always in an uphill battle and they simply couldn’t replicate the intensity of the semi-final game they turned in against the All Blacks. It’s a result that takes England’s tally of World Cup finals to one win and three losses.

RugbyPass have rated all 23 of the England players below in what was a disappointing end to an encouraging campaign from Eddie Jones’ young group.

  1. Elliot Daly4

Daly defended well when South Africa came at him on the ground, although he was exposed on a couple of occasions by the smart kicking games of Faf de Klerk and Willie le Roux. He wasn’t able to provide the creativity in the midfield and the linking with the wide channels that he usually does.

  1. Anthony Watson5.5

The wing was largely contained by South Africa as an attacking threat. He was excellent dealing with the high balls that the Springboks peppered England with, though he wasn’t able to impact the game too much beyond that.

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  1. Manu Tuilagi5.5

A quiet game from Tuilagi who had a couple of impactful carries and tackles, but they were far and far between across the 80 minutes.

  1. Owen Farrell6.5

With the struggles in the half-backs, Farrell wasn’t delivered too much good ball to work with, though he invariably made the right decisions and didn’t compound errors. He made four of his five kicks and was one of the more impressive English players in the final, despite the team’s struggles.

  1. Jonny May6.5

May was effortlessly consistent. His work chasing kicks and dealing with aerial balls, even under heavy pressure, was flawless. He didn’t get too many opportunities to run at South Africa but when he did, he was good to make a defender or two miss.

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  1. George Ford5

The fly-half lost out on a high ball and kicked out on the full in a disappointing first half. He was part of an England side that struggled with their handling significantly early on. Just couldn’t find a way to influence the game positively with the Springboks pressuring him.

  1. Ben Youngs4.5

An out of sorts first half from Youngs, whose passing and decision-making was below par. His box-kicking was relatively effective in terms of distance, though they tended to just outkick the chase. He wasn’t able to change that after the interval.

  1. Mako Vunipola6

Vunipola was targeted at the scrum by South Africa, as Frans Malherbe and Vincent Koch went to work. His influence in the loose was solid, though, and warrants him a slightly higher rating than the one recorded by Dan Cole.

https://twitter.com/RugbyPass/status/1190568863026630657

  1. Jamie George5.5

The hooker wasn’t his usual effervescent self in the loose, though he was successful with five of his six lineouts. Overplayed, slightly, sending one offload into touch, when England could have found space on the subsequent phase.

  1. Kyle Sinckler N/A

Unfortunately, Sinckler had to leave the pitch after just two minutes as he was seemingly knocked out in an early tackle.

  1. Maro Itoje6

A quiet game by Itoje’s standards. He led England in tackling in the first half and was able to disrupt a couple of South African mauls, though it was not enough to influence the game in the same ways he had in the quarter-final and semi-final.

https://twitter.com/RugbyPass/status/1190606398746497024

  1. Courtney Lawes6.5

Perhaps England’s standout player prior to the interval. Lawes’ was his side’s most prominent ball-carrier outside of Billy Vunipola and was the target for all four of their successful first-half lineouts. He was unlucky to be replaced at half-time in a decision that was likely dictated by the struggling scrum.

  1. Tom Curry6.5

Curry started the game strongly with a couple of impactful carries and industrious chasing, though South Africa’s physicality advantage began to show as the game went on. He spilt a ball in the back field and was held up in the carry by opposite number Pieter-Steph du Toit, who was ruthlessly impressive.

  1. Sam Underhill7

Like Lawes, Underhill was one of the few England players to really step up in the first half. He forced a knock-on in the tackle, an area where he was typically physical, and also stepped up as a carrying and support option.

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https://twitter.com/RugbyPass/status/1190583393878237184

  1. Billy Vunipola6

The No8 grew into the game after being part of England’s poor start in terms of handling where his misjudged pass ended up costing his side three points. He stepped up as a carrier, though, as the game went on, and his offloads in contact were usually good for an extra couple of metres for the English pack.

Replacements

  1. Luke Cowan-Dickie6

The Exeter hooker connected with both of his lineouts and had one powerful carry.

  1. Joe Marler7

The arrival of the loosehead significantly boosted England’s struggling scrum and he stemmed the flow of penalties that the English pack was conceding at the set-piece.

  1. Dan Cole4

It was a tough day at the office for Cole, who had to play 77 minutes and was immediately put under pressure at the scrum by Tendai Mtawarira. It was a problem that was only exacerbated by the arrival of Steven Kitshoff.

  1. George Kruis6

The lock helped add some ballast to the scrum in the second half and he became the favoured lineout target with Lawes off the pitch.

  1. Mark Wilson6

Provided fresh energy in the chase and as a tackler, although he wasn’t able to sway the game at that point.

  1. Ben Spencer – N/A

Came on too late to have a real impact on the game.

  1. Henry Slade5

His knock-on in the carry gifted the ball to Cheslin Kolbe and wrapped up the win for the Springboks.

  1. Jonathan Josephn/a

Like Spencer, Joseph arrived relatively late and at that point, there was only defending left to be done.

WATCH: RugbyPass hears from some rowdy fans after the final in Yokohama

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j
john 52 minutes ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

14 Go to comments
A
Adrian 2 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

14 Go to comments
T
Trevor 5 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

21 Go to comments
B
Bull Shark 9 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

Of the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.

29 Go to comments
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