How do England beat South Africa in the World Cup final?
England go head to head with South Africa in Yokohama on Sunday with the World Cup trophy on the line – but where will the game be won and lost?
Here is an assessment of South Africa’s fixtures over the last 12 months and the areas in which Eddie Jones’ men must look to exert pressure.
Weather the storm
For the semi-final, the order of the day was to hit New Zealand hard and early – and England obliged thanks to Manu Tuilagi’s second-minute try, the eighth time in 12 months they have scored in the first three minutes of a game.
South Africa, though, have been resilient in the early stages – only four times in the last year have they conceded a try in the first 20 minutes.
Seven of the 17 they have conceded have come in the 20 minutes leading up to half-time, while they have also conceded three tries and eight penalties (out of 29 in total) from the 65th minute onwards.
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The Springboks have won 11 out of 15 games in that time, but the eight in which they have conceded in the final quarter-hour include their three defeats and the 16-16 draw with New Zealand.
The others were three-point wins over France and in last week’s semi-final against Wales, a 24-18 win over Argentina – courtesy of two penalties after Pablo Matera’s 65th-minute try levelled the scores – and just one relatively comfortable win, 35-17 against Australia.
Twelve years on from the 2007 final in Paris that England lost to South Africa, winger Mark Cueto still insists his disallowed try was a legitimate scorehttps://t.co/DTBv2NpgGl
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 29, 2019
It will be vital, then, for England to stand up to the physical challenge and play right to the gong at the end of each half.
Happily, Jones’ side have scored 17 tries, six penalties and a drop goal from the 65th minute onwards in 18 Tests, including 10 tries in the final five minutes of games.
Curry too hot for the Boks?
Of the tries conceded by South Africa in those games, seven have been scored by opposing forwards and 10 by backs, with a wide spread of positions within that – leaving no obvious main weakness.
One blindside and two openside flankers have crossed against the Boks and England have had success from those positions, with three tries from number six and four from number seven in the last year.
Tom Curry has scored three of those while operating in both positions and is set to start at six in Yokohama looking to cap a fantastic tournament on a personal level.
‘If you’re sat at a table and one bloke says it, it is actually the other people at the table who will say, mate, that is not okay, that is not where the game is now’
– @RachaelBurf12 of @HarlequinsWomen and @BurfAcademy on how World Cup changed attitudeshttps://t.co/xH4g4kmljz— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 30, 2019
Two hookers have also crossed against the Boks – offering even more encouragement for England, whose hookers have combined for nine tries in the past year.
With four of those coming from replacements, it could be set up for the fresh legs of Luke Cowan-Dickie to add another late score against the Boks. The Exeter man has five tries in his last nine caps, despite starting only three times, and has scored after coming off the bench against both Tonga and Argentina in this tournament.
Among the backs, South Africa have conceded tries to every spot from fly-half back to full-back – but with both wing positions and outside centre registering multiple scores, England’s Jonny May, Anthony Watson and Manu Tuilagi will be eager to add to their prolific records.
– Press Association
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Comments on RugbyPass
Brayden Iose and Peter Lakai are very exciting Super Rugby players but are too short and too light to ever be a Test 8 vs South Africa, France, Ireland, and England, Lakai could potentially be a Test player at 7 if he is allowed to focus on 7 for Hurricanes.
5 Go to commentsPencils “Thomas du Toit” into possible 2027 Bok squad.
1 Go to commentsDon’t see why Harrison makes the bench. Jones can play at 10 if needed, and there is a good case for starting her there to begin with if testing combinations. That would leave room for Sing on the bench
1 Go to commentsWhat a load of old bull!
1 Go to commentsOf 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 commentsIrish Rugby CEO be texting Andy Farrell “Andy, i found our next Kiwi Irishman”
5 Go to commentsI certainly don’t miss drinking beers at 8am in the morning watching rugby games being played in NZ.
1 Go to commentsThis looks like a damage limitation exercise for Wales, keeping back some of their more effective players for the last 20/25 minutes to try and counter England’s fresh legs so the Red Roses don’t rack up a big score.
1 Go to commentsVery unlikely the Bulls will beat Leinster in Dublin. It would be different in Pretoria.
1 Go to commentsI think it is a dangerous path to go down to ban a player for the same period that a player they injured takes to recover. Players would be afraid to tackle anyone. I once tackled my best friend at school in a practice match and sprained his ankle. I paid for it by having to play fly-half instead of full-back for the rest of that season’s fixtures.
5 Go to commentsJust such a genuine good bloke…and probably the best all round player in his generation. Good guys do come first sometimes and he handled the W.Cup loss with great attitude.
2 Go to commentsWord in France is that he’s on the radar of a few Top14 clubs.
5 Go to commentsGet blocking Travis, this guy has styles and he’s gonna make a swift impact…!
1 Go to commentsWhat remorse? She claimed that her dangerous tackle wasn’t worthy of a red! She should be compensating the injured player for loss of earnings at the minimum. Her ban should include the recovery time of the injured player as well as the paltry 3 match ban.
5 Go to commentsArdie is a legend. Finished and klaar. Two things: “Yeah, yeah, I have had a few conversations with Razor just around feedback on my game and what I am doing well, what I need to improve on or work-ons. It’s kind of been minimal, mate, but it’s all that I need over here in terms of how to be better, how to get better and what I am doing well.” I hope he’s downplaying it - and that it’s not that “minimal”. The amount of communication and behind the scenes preparation the Bok coaches put into players - Rassie and co would be all over Ardie and being clear on what is expected of him. This stands out for me as something teams should really be looking at in terms of the boks success from a coaching point of view. And was surprised by the comment - “minimal”. In terms of the “debate” around Ireland and South Africa. Nice one Ardie. Indeed. There’s no debate.
2 Go to commentsThere’s a bit of depth there but realistically Australian players have a long way to go to now catch up. The game is moving on fast and Australia are falling behind. Australian sides still don’t priories the breakdown like they should, it’s a non-negotiable if you want to compete on the international stage. That goes for forwards and backs. The Australian team could have a back row that could make a difference but the problem is they don’t have a tight five that can do the business. Tupou is limited in defence, overweight and unfit and the locks are a long way from international standard. Frost is soft and Salakai-Loto is too small so that means they need a Valentini at 8 who has to do the hard graft so limits the effectiveness of the backrow. Schmidt really needs to get a hard working, tough tight 5 if he wants to get this team firing.
3 Go to commentsSorry Morgan you must have been the “go to for a quote” ex player this week. Its rnd 6 and there is plenty of time to cement a starting 15 and finishing 8 so I have no such concerns.
2 Go to commentsGreat read. I wish you had done this article on the ROAR.
2 Go to commentsThe current AB coaching team is basically the Crusaders so it smacks of wanting their familiar leaders around. This is not a good look for the future of the ABs or the younger players in Super working their way up the player ladder. Razor is touted as innovative, forward looking but his early moves look like insecurity and insular, provincial thinking. He is the AB's coach not the Golden Oldies.
10 Go to commentsSimple reason for wanting him back. Robertson wants him as captain. Otherwise he wouldn’t be bothering chasing him. Not enough reason to come back just to mentor.
10 Go to comments