the English-style heist almost worked against South Africa

The blow didn’t go far. A penalty awarded to the Springboks in the 78th minute and – perhaps – a penalty forgotten for the English then by referee Ben O’Keeffe at the very end of the match. Like the French in the previous round, England had to surrender for a small point against South Africa, Saturday October 21, in the semi-final of the World Cup (15-16). Even though they were much better in the game, the French also cracked at the end of the match. Less ambitious, the English did (almost) everything well to snatch a victory on which few would have bet before the match.

The game plan was, unsurprisingly, very restrictive: aggressiveness in the duel, few risks taken in the transmissions in order to push the Springboks to the penalty, which they intended to sanction by the inevitable Owen Farrell. For 78 minutes, the plan went smoothly: in the rain at the Stade de France, South Africa was asphyxiated, unable to establish rhythm or find wingers Kurt-Lee Arendse and Cheslin Kolbe, who had hurts France so much.

The feat lasted 68 minutes

But the English also ended up cracking, with a strong try from RG Snyman in the 69th minute, then a penalty from Handré Pollard, two minutes before the end. The English led 15-6 in the 68th minute. Twelve minutes later, they had to go down on one knee, narrowly beaten by a South African favorite who didn’t show much except tenacity. “It was really ugly, but that’s how champions become. It’s a credit to England, who worked hard. Before the World Cup, it was not considered a team in its own right. Coach Steve Borthwick, Owen [Farrell] and their other players stepped up and showed who they were.”greeted, as often, South African captain Siya Kolisi.

With a slippery ball, causing throwing errors into touch and forwards, making the match choppy and poor, the XV de la Rose abused kicks in the game (41 to 29) and against the poles (5/5 for Owen Farrell), content to scratch the balloons (7 balloons recovered to 4) in combat. The plan was drawn up by Steve Borthwick, and if it was not very surprising, it almost worked, with the help of the weather. “England did very well with their kicking, they outplayed us in that area”admitted Kolisi. “I have to start by paying tribute to England, they were magnificent. They had a well-rehearsed plan and they put us under a lot of pressure”added Jacques Nienaber, the coach of the Springboks.

Owen Farrell tried everything

The scorer Owen Farrell, who even made a complicated drop from almost 50 meters, tried everything to cut the South African pack in order to prevent them from continuing the phases of play. Ben’s refereeing O’Keefe, who whistled 19 penalties in total (11 for England, 8 for South Africa), managed to slow down the pace of a game based more on extreme tactics, more than on the visual pleasure of the spectators.

“We had a plan in place during the week and the weather conditions also played a role. We shook them up at times and they had to make substitutions to change what they were doing. But credit to them for finding the way to come back and win in the end“, recognized the 32-year-old fly-half, who during this edition became the top scorer in England’s history ahead of legend Jonny Wilkinson. “It’s hard to swallow, we tried to execute the plan as best we could, we gave everything”released third row Maro Itoje.

England, like France before it, will therefore sleep cursing this tiny point which once again tipped the scales towards the Springboks. And if the two frustrations will undoubtedly have a different taste, England knows that it has come back further than the Blues. “Not everything went the way we wanted. Everything was thrown at us, it was a roller coaster. I’m happy with what we’ve managed to build but I’m bummed that we won’t get to experience the big game [la finale] next week (…)”, concluded Farrell. She will still be able to end her World Cup on a good note, during the match for third place, next Friday against Argentina.