England suffer Rugby World Cup heartbreak after agonising semi-final defeat to South Africa
England 15-16 South Africa
PARIS — In 2019, South Africa hammered England in the World Cup final. In this rematch in the semi-finals of France 2023 it was close, which is a short way of saying this was an evening of unremitting, nerve-shredding tension in Paris, and for England to lose by one point to Handre Pollard’s late, late penalty, will hurt all the more in the heart and gut because Owen Farrell‘s team came so close to causing a huge upset.
Pollard was the fly-half signed by Steve Borthwick to Leicester Tigers last year, so the England head coach, who moved from club to country when Eddie Jones was sacked at the turn of the year, knew all about the quality of the Boks’ hero.
So did Rassie Erasmus, Borthwick’s South Africa counterpart, who hauled off the starting No 10, Manie Libbok, after just 30 minutes and sent on Pollard to be part of a gradual dismantling of a lead that England held for almost the entire match.
So much for the world rankings, with South Africa number one and England in fifth.
Put a specific challenge in front of a set of English rugby players with a record accumulated number of caps between them, and you have a chance their rugby wisdom and collective spirit will come through.
That was what Borthwick consistently said he was relying on, having got his job with just nine months to prepare for the World Cup.
A straightforward game plan based on kicking and chasing was the other main element.
It has ended, as many predicted it would, in the semi-finals, and it may take a little time to decide whether the tactics were all wrong, ultimately, in their route-one nature, or can be explained away by the hole England found themselves in when Jones was jettisoned.
South Africa will now meet New Zealand in next Saturday’s final which will be a clash of styles.
And the southern hemisphere domination of this competition goes on.
England have now played six World Cup matches with the Boks and lost five, and scored only one try, in the solitary win in the pool stage of the title triumph in 2003.
England tried hardly anything with the ball in hand all evening, and maybe that was wise in the blustery, rainy conditions, although they would have done it anyway.
Two key areas were crucial: discipline and accuracy and England had a brief problem on the first count when Farrell was marched back 10 metres by referee Ben O’Keeffe for backchat and holding on to the ball, which gave South Africa their first three points from Libbok in the 21st minute.
Otherwise England were nailing one key moment after another – maybe a dozen of them in the opening half, if you totted up penalties, turnovers and great tackles and follow-ups by George Martin and Courtney Lawes.
There are around a dozen Englishmen including Lawes for whom this may be their last World Cup, but they were consistently winning the aerial contests under Alex Mitchell’s box kicks, and most gallingly for South Africa, a series of dangerous-looking Springbok mauls ended in turnovers to England, who cleverly twisted the drives and then pounced on the loose ball.
Penalties for breakdown and offside offences enabled Farrell to kick England 12-6 ahead at the break.
His opposite number, Libbok, had a nightmare kicking out of hand and Erasmus and his sidekick Jacques Nienaber did not wait to act.
With the wet ball causing both sides problems, England made a couple of errors at attacking line-outs that would prove costly – one throw by Jamie George simply spiralled vertically out of the hooker’s hands.
A mighty drop goal from Farrell – two weeks in a row for the skipper, when he had managed three in his previous 109 caps – made it 15-6 after 52 minutes.
But the Boks kept pushing, to no one’s surprise, and after substituting a slew of big names including Siya Kolisi and Eben Etzebeth, they finally got a try with a run round a line-out by Kwagga Smith finished by RG Snyman, with 12 minutes to go, and Pollard converting.
The tension reached fresh heights as lusty choruses of ‘Swing Low, Sweet Chariot’ suddenly stuck in English spectators’ throats.
Freddie Steward, who had been magnificently assured as South Africa kicked dumbly down his throat time after time, made a single, crucial mistake as the full-back knocked on trying to retake his own steepling up-and-under.
It gave South Africa one of a series of scrums that yielded four straight penalties, and from the last of them, Pollard belted the winning points with a fabulously calm kick from 50 metres.
