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Beauden
Beauden
Beauden
Who’s selection is that? Stephen Jones?
I wouldn’t mind Stephen Jones, he was only a shite out half for Wales
Stuart Barnes. Eight English. Including the 3 front rowers. Three South Africans.
Neil Francis: ‘Stand up and take a bow Joe Schmidt — the Springboks used your game plan to win the World Cup’
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South Africa’s Siya Kolisi lifts the Webb Ellis Cup as South Africa celebrate winning the 2019 Rugby World Cup final at Yokohama Stadium. David Davies/PA Wire.
November 2 2019 7:30 PM
On Saturday, November 11, 2017, Ireland played South Africa at the Aviva Stadium.
South African rugby fans react to winning World Cup
There was, though, more than one dimension to how the Springboks played. Skill without imagination is craftsmanship and while you don’t begrudge South Africa the manner of their victory, you do think that the team that played the best and most edifying rugby got ran out the gate at the semi-final stage. Edifying Smedifying!
More than anything South Africa trusted each other and they played with the sort of verve that is backboned by unshakeable self-belief. They never relented and they sustained their effort throughout the 80. You always find that you can think and act quicker when there is trust in the team.
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You have to hand it to Wazza! Even in the dying embers of his reign Warren Gatland managed to get a last blow in by suggesting that England might have peaked in their outstanding semi-final performance against New Zealand, who curiously were as lethargic as England were yesterday.
I am certain that England were not over-burdened by the mantle of favouritism and whereas Eddie Jones, got his game plan absolutely right for the New Zealand game he had a conundrum on how to play South Africa. England were neither big enough to out-muscle the Springboks nor smart enough to out-think them and that ultimately undid them.
We may think the game has changed over the decades but the evidence in the final told us that if you master the fundamentals you will win. We know also that crazy things happen in high-pressure games and so it proved.
This though was not a tactical masterclass by Erasmus. He merely instructed Faf de Klerk and Handré Pollard to kick like Sexton and Murray and get chasers underneath the ball. They won the kick-chase battle convincingly and in the process exposed Elliot Daly’s vulnerability in this area. Daly was one of those players that England needed to be at the top of his game and he was a long way short.
South Africa coach Rassie Erasmus and captain Siya Kolisi speak of their pride after Rugby World Cup win
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The conventional view is that the game was decided at scrum time — and that, to a certain extent, is correct. I was certain that the two kamikaze kids, Sam Underhill and Tom Curry, would be the combination to decide this game, that their relentless work-rate at the breakdown and the dizzying number of tackles they make in open field would swing the game towards England. The two also seem to have enough energy to get on the ball and do so intelligently.
But you have to perform the mundane acts in this game of ours and you have to scrummage. When you include two auxiliary backs into your pack who have a penchant for getting into the outfield then you might just forget your primary duties. England conceded 15 points from scrum penalties and the finger of blame will be pointed at Dan Cole who is a genuine cast-iron penalty machine and who never seems to be bothered about what his team-mates think as he looks at the referee while retreating from a collapsed scrum and shaking his head in disbelief.
When the ball got to Vermeulen’s feet at scrum time both England’s flankers had detached from the scrum. Eight against six, with the Springboks in the mood for an arm-wrestle, leaves only one winner. They may have copped what to do in the second half and stayed down and bound but at that stage the Springboks had got the scoreboard ticking over and had ascendancy in a vital area in the game. This had a tiny imperceptible influence on the game. It meant that every time the Springboks had a scrum, England’s poachers and jackals had to stay connected to it.
Other little areas of advantage suddenly started to appear. England flooded their back-field with receivers waiting to play and counter South Africa’s kicking game. Just at the right moment South Africa, once or twice, threw the ball out along the line and England, not expecting South Africa to change from the game plan, had to scramble to make their tackles.
It may have escaped your notice that in the first five minutes of the game South Africa had thrown the ball around like the Harlem Globetrotters to fool England into thinking that this was going to be an open and loose game. This forced England to think again and for the following 35 minutes South Africa played kick chase and crucially worked themselves into a lead. It then became a game of cat and mouse until the game loosened up in the last quarter. At that stage England’s creeping errors hadn’t abated and Anthony Watson gave away a silly penalty for a stupid tackle off the ball on Makazole Mapimpi.
This was a game where I would have bet the house on several yellows but curiously nobody crossed the threshold.
Both teams kept a certain level of discipline but England’s hold was always more tenuous. As they began chasing the game, they were turned over again and it was those Joe Schmidt moments when three or four opportunities present themselves and the attacking nous that was dormant for nearly the whole game suddenly flashes into action.
Mapimpi’s chip over the top right at the touchline was so deliciously positioned that you knew that it was going to sit up for Lukhanyo Am and a no-look pass back outside to the Springbok wing practically sealed the game. The Springboks are not known for packing the short side and getting short passes away in a narrow channel. Whose play book did that come out of?
It was interesting that Malcolm Marx, arguably the best hooker in the world and inexplicably coming off the bench, was involved in both tries. Once again Springbok physicality was the signature written all over the second try. Marx emptied Henry Slade who was forlornly looking to try and create something and the ball ended up loose. South Africa got it to the sensational Cheslin Kolbe who pulled a step that is not easily explainable, in the English or any language, on Owen Farrell and he went on to score in what was heading to be a rout.
It is strange that when there is an overt expression of will, intent and aggression that an outrider of talent seems to eventually tag along. South Africa chose to play winning rugby. Cup rugby. They finished with some aplomb.
Do we get any of the royalties or do we just sue for copyright infringement?
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Darren Cave gives his theories on why Ireland were so poor - if this is to become a regular column I suggest the name “Cave Hill” for it
Reason 1: Player welfare, ie. resting players, gives Ireland a freshness and injury advantage during the regular season but that advantage evaporates at a World Cup because it’s at the start of a season
Reason 2: Player welfare means Irish players are not used enough to playing blocks of matches in a row, ie. they are not battle hardened
If I didn’t know any better, I’d suspect Darren looks in here
Hi Darren
Joe hated darren, ergo darren is one of us
They barely got to 4 weeks.
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They’re all class again
It was just a blip.
As always
The four year cycle where these cunts convince themselves they are world beaters begins again.
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I really enjoyed the column from refereeing great, Owen Doyle in the Paper of Record during the World Cup. Hopefully this becomes a regular column.
“A great weekend for the provinces…” - it brings joy to my heart when the rubby segment on the RTE sport news of a Sunday night leads with that sentence.
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Our provincial structure is the envy of all the other countries (who happen to always out perform us at the world cup).
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The obsession with that Beer Cup is bad for Irish rugby .
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“Doyle’s Corner”?
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