Former England coach and World Cup winner Clive Woodward lauded South Africa for their victory in the final in Japan. England were beaten 32-12 at International Stadium Yokohama and Woodward praised the winning South Africa team and also pointed to their dominance in the scrum.

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    Woodward, who guided England to 2003 World Cup success, told ITV: “No doubt, the better team won. At this level of rugby, if you can’t scrum properly, if you’re going to give five or six penalties at your scrum against a team like this, you’re always going to come second.

    “England will be bitterly disappointed, to go down 32-12 in a World Cup final. They just couldn’t fire a shot because we couldn’t get first phase ball.”

    Former Springbok winger Bryan Habana hopes the World Cup victory will inspire a new generation of players to take up the game.

    He said: “It is absolutely phenomenal. No one expected as commanding a victory. I think they won almost every big play, with their ability to do it up front, but some of the tries we saw were absolutely phenomenal.

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    “I’d love to see the scenes back home because this can be a catalyst. You feel for the English because they have been incredible throughout the whole tournament but for these bo,ys this will mean so much more than rugby. It will be so much bigger than the sport.

    “From a South African perspective, hopefully a new generation of blacks will have been inspired by a team that has carried the hopes and dreams of a nation and done it incredibly well.”

    – Press Association

    WATCH: RugbyPass heard from the fans before the final in Yokohama

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