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'We don't bet, we don't look at the bookies, we aren't concerned (we're favourites for the final)...'
Eddie Jones doesn’t care if England are now World Cup favourites after their stunning semi-final win over New Zealand. The back-to-back defending champions were beaten 19-7, leaving England waiting on Wales against South Africa to find their final opponents.
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Whoever prevails on Sunday, England will be fancied after this shock win, but Jones is not interested. “We don’t bet. We don’t look at the bookies, we aren’t concerned. Our expectation is to get better every day,” he told ITV.
“We have another week in the competition, the prospect to work hard and see where we can take our game and get better. We had great tactical discipline. You try and play at their game, you come off second best. We stuck to our game really well. I thought the discipline of our players was outstanding in attack and defence.”
On his forwards, he added: “They played really well, Steve Borthwick and Neal Hatley do a fantastic job with them, well drilled, tactically aware.”
England’s hero of their 2003 World Cup success, Jonny Wilkinson, said the modern-day players were “superheroes”. “You look at the back-row guys, Curry and Underhill, their impact, it’s immense,” he said. “It’s easy to look at New Zealand and call them superheroes, but you have to do the same thing for our boys and give them credit.
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“That’s a result of immense talent and training, Eddie Jones has created an incredible environment in which these guys can do what they have done. They are on a par with these New Zealand superheroes.”
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Winning captain Owen Farrell told ITV: “It’s a World Cup semi-final against New Zealand, as big as it gets. We feel like we prepared well and we started well. In all these big games, teams get physical and we were ready to go at it from the off.”
On the final, he added: “It’s brilliant to get there, brilliant to be a part of. We will enjoy this and then make sure we prepare.”
World Cup-winning coach from 2005 Clive Woodward said: “That was totally complete. They strangled the All Blacks to death, not just the first two minutes, but the whole game. The physicality, 1-15, was fantastic. It was huge and totally deserved. They absolutely smashed them.”
– Press Association
WATCH: How Jim Hamilton previewed the England versus New Zealand semi-final on Don’t Mess With Jim
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Comments on RugbyPass
Dear Internet, This is what sour grapes look like… It wont make any difference in down playing the SA win. The scoreboard is the ultimate statistic. I agree with Johnz, I would have liked a full 15vs15 for the whole game. Could have been even better or worse. What we as rugby supporters got, was a fantastic game where the result could have gone either way. It was great.
26 Go to commentsben loser smith. I haven't read the article. Just saw the headline and knew it was him. Rugbypass surely you can do better than this clickbate loser.
26 Go to commentsIf if if….If my aunt had balls she would be my uncle
26 Go to commentsBen is right, the RWC should be taken from SA and awarded to NZ. Rugby matches from now on will not be decided on points but rather on who deserved to win the most. This will be decided by 1 journalist sitting in a bunker.
26 Go to commentsThat's quite a wind up Ben. I'm an all black fan, and admittedly the loss felt a little hollow, given how well the boys played once Cane left the field. But that's finals footy, sometimes it's cruel. Let's look at the reality though. This was a team that spent an entire year thinking about how to beat Ireland, and did so magnificently. Come final time, they started the match looking overawed, fearful and unprepared. This led them to getting behind on the scoreboard, and chasing the game, which is never a good position to be in a final. SA started better, were confident and assured. That, in the end, was the game. The comeback led by Savea was phenomenal, but not quite enough. That's how comebacks often go. The real questions should be why they looked so unprepared? Why we needed to get behind and lose our so called leader to start playing? And why the best player against SA from a month or two before wasn't even in the team? Plus give some credit where it's due, PSD was quite phenomenal and instrumental in keeping SA ahead, a performance for the ages.
26 Go to commentsMy only response is “Check the Scoreboard” nothing else matters. Ben you will not wind me up pal. Boks are 4 times RWC Champions.
26 Go to commentsThere is no place to hide in the front row. You win or lose each time and it selects for hard men/women and those who enjoy combat
7 Go to commentsThey might have won several different areas on the field but the one that ultimately counts is on the scoreboard. Ben Smith’s nonsense is still shown up for what it is following criticisings by his team’s coach claiming similar nonsenses and several other players as well. I am not an expert but I know All Blacks know that the game is won by the team with more points on the board than the opposition. Also the red card on Sam Cane is entirely his own fault. If they were aggrieved for having one less player on the pitch, that was their own fault, their own captain who possibly in a moment of forgetfulness tackled too high but either way it is a RWC Final, you cannot be having lapses of forgetfulness in a match like that. The fact that they were down a man for 64 minutes was their fault. And even if they did dominate the second half for 35 minutes, they had crossed the whitewash twice, they had several kicks at goal, the fact is they didn't maximize on all the opportunities they were given. The one try was disallowed, the two kicks at goal were missed, the opportunities not taken. Every tackle was made by the Springboks with so much more fervour than anyone had seen even in the Semi Final the week previously. Whatever Ben Smith says, most of what he says can be chalked down to a spoiled sport who has nothing better to say than whine and moan because ultimately the team he supports lost when it mattered most.
26 Go to commentsThere’s plenty I could write on this, I won’t stop if I really get going, so i’ll make just 2 important points. Don’t forget that SA didn’t have a hooker, don’t discount that fact. I would have taken MBONAMBI fit for the game over a yellow to Frizelle. Also you forget that NZ had the luxury of playing without pressure once the red came. Noone expected them to win and they could always fall back on 14 men if they lost. I’d also have taken 15 men NZ and MBONAMBI on the field over what transpired.
26 Go to commentsSome people in France say that JB Lafont have some problems with alcohol….
2 Go to commentsThis is awesome news. I hope he goes well.
1 Go to commentsI get that Ben's role is to attract SA readers with controversial clickbait, but what about respecting the rivalry of over 100 years? The Boks won, we lost. The Boks have now won 4 world cups since their inclusion back into international rugby, and in that time the rest of the world combined have only won 4! It's an incredible achievement. Show respect, and then hope we win 2-0 in SA later this year. But don't be a whiner; it means you don't understand the rivalry at its essence. Winner takes all when NZ plays SA. Sport in it's purest form. Long may it continue.
26 Go to commentsU Nz never ever use to be such a bunch off whining girls,now this so sad that u got this aasss writing some crap
26 Go to commentsBeautifully written.
7 Go to commentsYou can be a dominating team and still lose. The Boks know that if the ABs are a man down, they play as if they have another two players on the field. The ABs did attack, they did apply pressure, they built more plays but they did not add more points to the board. The ABs are still the most dominant team in sports today as the ABs will go for a win in every game they play. Rassie and Jacques have used the time between World Cups to build squad depth. They were also the last tier 1 nation to start playing rugby after COVID restrictions were eased and still won the series against The B&I Lions. Ben may write to persuade the reader that the Boks are not worthy of the trophy or worthy to be the best in the world but Ben, since you enjoy stats so much, you forgot the most important statistic….the score! That's the one that matters most.
26 Go to commentsNot a fan of Penney to be fair as I don’t see him able to perform at SR level. However he has stepped into a bit of a mess with so many long service players leaving. No matter how good a coach us he can’t wave a magic wind and turn young pups into Crusaders in 5 mins. Wheaven to accept this is a complete rebuild of players and culture. Have some patience just as the other teams have had in years gone by
29 Go to commentsWhat is Ben’s point exactly? Cause if it’s that the ABs should’ve won that game, then yes I think every AB fan would agree with that. But the DIDN'T. You need luck to go your way and it went the Springboks way, just as it went the ABs way in 2011. Given that this article is written 6 months after the final shows that Ben is still incredibly butthurt. Time to move on Mr Smith. Maybe join something that suits your bias… i’m thinking the Australian commentary panel?
26 Go to commentsSA players and fans calling the irish arrogant, ooh the irony!!
90 Go to commentsPersonally i’d have BB off the bench and DMac as 10. BB seems to have more ‘average’ games and less ability to mix it up on the fly than DMac,
7 Go to commentsBen’s Myth History is written by the guy who does the engraving on the trophy. Took Ben six months to write this piece.
26 Go to comments