Rugby World Cup – why did South Africa triumph?

So where did it go so wrong for England, brilliant and masterful against the All Blacks, mediocre and eventually cowed against the Springboks? Eddie Jones, said he didn’t know. Doubtless reflection will suggest a few pointers. We may be asking the wrong question of course, better to ask why the final went so completely right for South Africa. One answer might be that the South African coach Rassie Erasmus took stock of England’s performance against New Zealand, and said they mustn’t be allowed to play that way again. Instead they must be put under pressure, extreme pressure, from the start, forced into making mistakes, forced to ask questions of themselves.

South Africa did this so powerfully and successfully that we never really saw how England wanted to play the game.

The key moment came with the score 6-3 to South Africa around the half-hour mark. England had been on the back-foot but at last mounted an intense attack deep in the Springboks’ 22. Their powerful ball-carriers – the Vunipola brothers, Manu Tuilagi, Maro Itoje & Co all barged at the line, nearly crossed it more than once, but were repelled. Referee Jerome Garces extended his arm, signalling a penalty to England, and then played a very long advantage. Still the defence held firm; “ils ne passeront pas”, as the French said at Verdun. So he came back for the penalty, just wide of the posts, a few yards from the try-line.

What was Owen Farrell to do?  The old adage is that if you’ve been camped in the opposition 22, you must come away with something. How often, with one’s team in this position, one has muttered, or even screamed, “take the points.” Farrell did so, and chipped over the easy kick. 6-6.

Yet , even as he lined it up – and there was a short delay while an injured players received attention – I found myself wondering: if this wasn’t the World Cup final, if England were playing Scotland or Wales or Ireland or France or Italy, wouldn’t he pop the ball into touch and go for the try from the 5-metre line-out? In choosing to take the points rather than go for the try, wasn’t he in effect saying “I don’t think we can do it”? His decision must have given a boost to South Africa’s confidence.

Of course it was justifiable. It was a tense match and World Cup finals have mostly been very close. It was quite likely to be decided by the goal-kickers and three points are better than none. As it happened England conceded two more penalties before half-time. Handre Pollard kicked the goals, and South Africa went into the break 12-6 ahead and never looked like losing even when England got within three points of them again.

Owen Farrell always seems a young man with nerves of steel , but if he ever suffers from sleepless nights, the words “what if I’d refused the kick at goal and gone for the try?” will likely torment him.

Some have said that the final score 32-12 wasn’t a fair reflection of the match and flattered the Springboks. Admittedly their two tries came late. The first was a beauty. The second came when England were trying to run the ball from their 22, Henry Slade lost possession in the tackle, and the brilliant Cheslin Kolbe gathered it, skipped inside and was away. (Some have criticised Farrell for being wrong-footed and missing him, but I thought he had the outside break covered and was entitled to expect supporting cover on the inside – there was none.)

In the end the margin of victory seemed right. It reflected South Africa’s physical and mental domination of England.  Some have bewailed the number of penalties given at the set scrum, and I have sympathy with this because I would rather see the stronger scrum deliver quick, clean balls to the backs than playing for the penalty. But no team should be blamed for taking advantage of the laws as they stand, and England themselves have often been happy to win a succession of such penalties when they have had the stronger set-piece.

England made too many mistakes – throwing out wild passes, failing to field kicks and so on. This is what happens when a team is put under intense pressure. Mistakes are forced on them. To their credit they didn’t make nearly as many mistakes as they compelled the All Blacks to make in the semi-final. It will be little consolation now but that performance against New Zealand was one of the finest I’ve ever seen from an England team.

Form fluctuates and performance depends not only on how you play but on how the opposition plays. New Zealand beat South Africa in the first weekend of the competition. In the semi-finals England destroyed New Zealand while South Africa struggled to beat Wales by three points. New Zealand beat Wales by a margin in the bronze medal match, and then South Africa beat England. Sport would be less fun if there weren’t such fluctuations and if results were always predictable.