Image Credit: Sky Sports
By Lee Clow
02 November 2019 | Rugby World Cup
South Africa broke English hearts as they put in a heroic defensive performance to beat England 12-32 in the 2019 Rugby World Cup Final.
Eddie Jones’ side who were excellent in their semi-final against the All Blacks could not replicate their performance in the final as they were punished for their mistakes by a South Africa team who out played them all over the park.
South Africa kicked off the final brightly and had a chance to open the scoring when they won a penalty on two minutes in. Courtney Lawes was caught the wrong side of a ruck leaving the referee no choice but to give the penalty. Handre Pollard stepped up for the penalty, but his effort just fell wide of the posts, letting England off the hook.
Moments later, England lost tight-head Kyle Sinckler to a serious head injury. Dan Cole was forced to enter the game and replace Sinckler with 77 minutes of the final remaining.
South Africa’s early pressure soon paid dividend as they won another penalty. Pollard once again took responsibility and unlike his first kick, he dispatched his second penalty well giving The Springboks a 0-3 lead after 10 minutes.
Having rode their lucky in the opening exchanges, England were given the opportunity to equalise when they were awarded a penalty after 22 minutes. Owen Farrell was England’s man on penalty duty, and he dispatched his effort well making the score even at 3-3.
Despite drawing themselves level, England did not look settled and they continued to make sloppy mistakes eventually conceding another penalty for the Springboks. Pollard made no mistake from his kick and restored South Africa’s three-point lead.
Following this, indiscipline from South Africa scrum-half Faf de Klerk allowed England to revisit the South Africa 22. England, who looked for a try, mounted a move consisting of 27 phases but the strong South Africa defence halted their attack before conceding a penalty. Farrell once more drew England level from the penalty.
South Africa replied instantly again as Duane Vermeulen forced another breakdown penalty. Pollard, from 50 yards, brilliantly dispatched his difficult effort giving his side a 6-9 lead minutes before the end of the first half.
England were then hit with another sucker punch as South Africa once more won another penalty following an Elliot Daly knock on. Pollard was on target again making the score 6-12 changing the whole complexion of the game for England going into the half time break.
South Africa went into the break with history on their side as no team had come back and won a World Cup final having trailed at half time.
Despite making changes in the second half, England continued to be frustrated by South Africa as the game faded away from them. This was further deepened as following a scrum, the Springboks won a penalty. The penalty was to no surprise converted by Pollard giving South Africa a nine-point advantage.
After 52 minutes England finally won a scrum, a contest they had been losing all game, and as a result lead them to winning a penalty. Farrell dispatched his kick giving England hope with the score at 9-15.
Two minutes later, England won another penalty, and this gave Farrell a chance to narrow the gap to just three points. Despite having the backing of all the players and fans in the stadium, Farrells kick went wide of the posts keeping the score at 9-15. This moment at the time felt like it was going to be pivotal on who wins and loses the final.
South Africa immediately made England pay for their penalty miss as they won a penalty of their own. Pollard tapped his kick over restoring the Springboks’ nine-point lead.
Moments later, England were on the scoreboard again as Farrell dispatched another penalty keeping England in punching distance of South Africa.
But then with 14 minutes left of the clock, South Africa made a victory almost certain when they scored the finals first try. Lukhanyo Am cleverly beat Ben Youngs in a foot race having kicked ahead before releasing the ball Makazole Mapimpi to score in the corner. Pollard scored the following conversion making the score 12-25, burying any remaining hopes for England.
With 5 minutes to go, South Africa rubbed more salt into England’s wounds as Cheslin Kolbe showed his exceptional talent down the right and scored his sides second try. Pollard once again dispatched his conversion making the final score 12-32. Huge cheers filled the ground by the South African fans on the full-time whistle as they witnessed their side win their third Rugby World Cup. The Springboks make history as the first nation ever to lose a Rugby World Cup game, having lost to New Zealand in the Pool B, and go on to lift the cup.
For England, it was huge disappointment as they had played such a good tournament but failed at the final hurdle.
After the game, England head coach Eddie Jones spoke to media after his side’s World Cup final defeat: "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, it's difficult to get any sort of advantage."
"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."
South Africa head coach Rassie Erasmus also spoke to the media after his team’s triumph: "It's weird, I didn't think two years ago we could realistically do it, but six months ago began to and four weeks ago I really did. I am so proud of the players and my country. We stand together, we really believed it and I am proud to be South African."
"The country have gone through some bad times, and we have over the last two years, but our challenge is to make South African rugby strong for the next six or seven years."
"I will make this my mission to make this a springboard to take it the right way."
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