Rugby World Cup glory for Springboks
By Mark Stevens
2/11/19
England’s hopes of lifting the William Webb Ellis trophy for the second time were ended this morning as South Africa claimed a 32-12 victory in Yokohama.
Tries from Makazole Mapimpi and Cheslin Kolbe, plus 22 points from the boot of fly-half Hendre Pollard, saw the Spingboks triumph for their third World Cup – drawing level with New Zealand.
From the outset, England - who included Exeter Chiefs duo Luke Cowan-Dickie and Henry Slade in their match-day squad - were never able to settle, particularly at set-piece time where their rivals gained early dominance.
The loss of tight-head prop Kyle Sinckler to a head knock with just 90 seconds on the clock did little to help Eddie Jones’ side, who replied with four penalties from skipper Owen Farrell.
Post-game, Jones believed the Boks won the game in the scrum and concedes his side struggled to gain any sort of advantage.
”We just couldn’t get on the front foot. We were dominated in the scrum particularly in the first 50 minutes. When you’re in a tight, penalty-driven game, its difficult to get any sort of advantage,” said Jones.
“We needed to fix up the scrum, little things around the line-out, then get a bit more accurate in how we attacked.“We did that for a while, got ourselves back into the game, but in the end we had to force the game and gave away a couple of tries.
“They were too good for us at the breakdown today. That’s the great thing about rugby, one day you’re the best team in the world and the next a team knocks you off.”
Jones would not be moved on his future and whether he will remain with England until the next World Cup.
“It’s not the time to discuss it now,” Jones remarked. “That’s for the future but for this team there’s no reason why they can’t keep developing.
Jones was also reticent to comment on his earlier call for his reign to be judged by his team’s performance at the World Cup.
“I don’t think that’s relevant at this stage,” he said. “I’m just thinking about my team, they’re hurting badly enough. South Africa were worthy winners but I can’t fault the effort of my players. They’ve been outstanding throughout the World Cup and played with a lot of pride and passion.”
