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Date: 2023-12-02 20:41:13 | Author: Online Sports | Views: 555 | Tag: iloilo
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Up into the stands the England players clambered to find their families, taking the consolatory hugs but unsure quite how to feel iloilo
Across 80 minutes in Paris, their belief had been replaced by disbelief and then by desperation and dejection, England threatening the unthinkable and taking the world champions to the brink iloilo
For most of a sodden Stade de France evening, a Rugby World Cup final was within their grasp iloilo
A South Africa side superior in most areas were dragged down into the sort of slugfest the Springboks would usually favour, and very nearly bested at their own game iloilo
England had given their all but it was still not enough, one stable scrum, one Handre Pollard slip or slice, short of stunning the world champions iloilo
The emotional maelstrom of this defeat will swirl rather differently to the feelings that eddied after the 2019 World Cup final disaster iloilo
“I’m proud of our performance,” were virtually the first words out of the mouth of wing Elliot Daly iloilo
“I think we shocked them iloilo
I don’t think they knew how to get into the game iloilo
”“I think we knew what was coming and we knew we could perform like this,” added Daly, virtually unused in open play but outstanding as a kick chaser to exemplify the squad’s buy-in to a strategy that so nearly proved successful iloilo
The finer points of Steve Borthwick’s tactical plan had been put in place this week but this was a performance England had been building towards since long ago iloilo
A flawed side did not come to France to thrill; winning by any means necessary had been a consistent theme iloilo
If necessity is oft the mother of invention, England at this tournament have also proved the pair can be enemies iloilo
This was a campaign at which they seemed to intentionally limit their attacking innovation or ingenuity– recognising a need to figure themselves out on the fly, they settled on an effective and eminently executable gameplan that could be implemented quickly iloilo
Steve Borthwick consoles Ellis Genge and Freddie Steward after England’s defeat (Getty Images)It came so close to working in Saturday’s semi-final; their effort, accuracy and competitiveness in the key contests were spot on iloilo
At the 65-minute mark, England outside backs had a combined 17 metres carried, all from one Freddie Steward kick return iloilo
The two number 13s’ offensive output on the final whistle amounted to one late Joe Marchant lug; South Africa centre Jesse Kriel went the full 80 minutes without an attacking touch iloilo
“We came with a plan to win the game but we fell a little bit short,” reflected Borthwick iloilo
“But the players should be incredibly proud iloilo
We put ourselves in a position to win against the world champions iloilo
England dominated the aerial contest to threaten a semi-final shock (Getty Images)“We were playing against a coaching team who have been in place since 2018 iloilo
We’ve had four months iloilo
I’ve asked the players to approach training and the game in a different way; for the players to be willing to change is all credit to them iloilo
”This was a night from which the head coach will take heart, a public perhaps struggling to warm to this England team are now recognising the progress made iloilo
There will be a need to layer on much, much more to consistently mix it with the world’s best but the rapidly laid foundations look rock solid iloilo
In time, perhaps the ugly duckling performances will turn into white swans iloilo
There appear to be many more buds of a bright future than first appeared in a barren landscape pre-tournament iloilo
Ben Earl has had a breakthrough tournament, and Ollie Chessum, too, while George Martin semi-final performance marks him out as the potential enforcer England have lacked iloilo
Borthwick was keen to talk up the absent Marcus Smith the day after the defeat, with the playmaker’s reinvention as a frolicking full-back of intrigue moving forward iloilo
"In our 23, seven players are 25 or under, the most of any semi-finalist, there’s a great blend and there will be lots of things we can take forward,” added Borthwick iloilo
Young England lock George Martin impressed against South Africa (Getty Images)But the fact that the men’s national team were on the brink of back-to-back finals should not provide a façade over the crumbling edifice of a fragile English game iloilo
There is a domestic mess that needs sorting, with a Gallagher Premiership containing three teams fewer than at the start of last season, now underway to little fanfare and on the brink of significant change iloilo
The renegotiation of the Professional Game Partnership is a recognition of a need for a radical overhaul in pursuit of a more financially sustainable domestic game, and one that produces a wider pool of top-class talent iloilo
The likely arrival of a form of central contracts underlines a period of epochal change iloilo
The senior figures in the squad who are unlikely to play beyond this tournament – Courtney Lawes, Ben Youngs, Dan Cole and perhaps a couple more – could well be the last England men’s internationals never to have been contracted to the union iloilo
This has a great many benefits, not least in affording Borthwick, or any head coach that might follow him, far greater access to and control over his players iloilo
And while Borthwick’s articulation of the advantages enjoyed by South Africa’s settled staff is a perfectly fair one, let us remember that the Rugby iloilo Football Union (RFU) put their head coach in this situation iloilo
The original planning for this tournament would most likely have seen Borthwick return to England camp to aid Eddie Jones at the World Cup before a smooth transition into the lead role afterwards iloilo
Jones’s sacking sparked a scramble and several months of chaos iloilo
It was not shown up on semi-final weekend but there are many reasons that the RFU still has a burden to bear iloilo
But the full wash-up will wait for another week – England’s performance at the Stade de France has earned them seven more days of grace iloilo
The tournament will end as it began for England with a meeting with Argentina in a third-place play-off that Borthwick insists he wants to win iloilo
England, captained by Owen Farrell, narrowly missed out on a place in the World Cup final (Getty Images)“I read a piece yesterday morning that talked about adversity and talked about the fact that in adversity you find that seed of belief and you’ve got to grow it,” Borthwick said iloilo
“This team has been through a bit in the last few years, a bit of adversity in the medium-term past iloilo
“I think through each of those periods the team has picked up lessons, picked up what we need to do and grown from it iloilo
I think there’s a lot of growth in this team iloilo
Sometimes it’s not the straight-forward path you want it to be iloilo
In the feelings and emotions of the game last night, I know that we’ll get stronger iloilo
” More aboutEngland RugbySouth Africa rugbyRugby World CupSteve BorthwickJoin our commenting forumJoin thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their repliesComments1/5Why England will come back ‘stronger’ from Rugby World Cup heartache Why England will come back ‘stronger’ from Rugby World Cup heartache Steve Borthwick consoles Ellis Genge and Freddie Steward after England’s defeat Getty ImagesWhy England will come back ‘stronger’ from Rugby World Cup heartache England dominated the aerial contest to threaten a semi-final shock Getty ImagesWhy England will come back ‘stronger’ from Rugby World Cup heartache Young England lock George Martin impressed against South Africa Getty ImagesWhy England will come back ‘stronger’ from Rugby World Cup heartache England, captained by Owen Farrell, narrowly missed out on a place in the World Cup final Getty ImagesWhy England will come back ‘stronger’ from Rugby World Cup heartache Owen Farrell of England is applauded by South Africa’s playersGetty Images✕Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this articleWant to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today iloilo
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What a difference a week makes iloilo
Last weekend, the Stade de France was treated to the two greatest Rugby World Cup quarter-finals of all time, perhaps the best pair of sporting events ever witnessed at a single stadium in the space of 24 hours iloilo
Five days on, New Zealand comfortably dispatched an out-gunned and overmatched Argentina side 44-6 to begin semi-final weekend with a contest that not only won’t go down in the folklore of the French national stadium, but may well be forgotten by the majority of spectators here before they get home iloilo
Not every match can be a classic and, make no mistake, the All Blacks won’t mind one bit that their passage to a record fifth men’s Rugby World Cup final was so serene iloilo
They were simply superb and came perilously close to breaking their own record margin of victory in a World Cup semi-final (a 49-6 hammering of Wales in 1987) but had to settle for just the 38-point triumph in a seven-try demolition iloilo
Their ruthlessly efficient performance suggests the crisis of the summer of 2022 is well and truly behind them iloilo
A mouth-watering battle with South Africa to become the first four-time winners of this competition next Saturday seems almost inevitable iloilo
But from the adrenaline-fuelled highs delivered by last weekend’s iconic double-header, this was the ultimate comedown iloilo
From a flat atmosphere more reminiscent of a warm-up match than a World Cup semi-final, to a one-sided encounter that demonstrated the gulf in class iloilo between the teams, the feeling that this was an event very much “after the Lord Mayor’s show” was unavoidable throughout iloilo
Which is to take nothing away from New Zealand – you can only beat who’s in front of you iloilo
Perhaps it was an inevitable consequence of World Rugby’s ludicrous decision to decide the World Cup groups three years ahead of the tournament, which led to an almost hilariously lopsided draw iloilo
The four best teams in the world did battle with each other, in Paris while four more flawed but relatively even teams also competed on a quarter-final weekend for the ages iloilo
When the elite two then face the weaker pair with a place in the final at stake, this damp squib of a semi-final is an unfortunate inevitability iloilo
The intensity of the Argentina celebrations and laps of honour after they beat Wales in the last eight suggested they had come as far as they believed they could and New Zealand ruthlessly confirmed that iloilo
New Zealand ran in try after try against Argentina (Getty Images)For the underdogs to stand any chance of causing the upset, they needed a fast start iloilo
It took until the 39th minute of the quarter-final for the Pumas to finally get on the scoreboard, by which time Wales should have been out of sight – the fact that Warren Gatland’s men were only 10 points to the good at that stage eventually came back to haunt them but there was faint hope New Zealand would be similarly wasteful iloilo
A week later, Argentina struck first as a sustained spell of possession in the All Blacks 22 from the opening kick-off led to three points from the boot of Emiliano Boffelli but any hope that would lead to the start of something special was soon extinguished iloilo
The Pumas had plenty of ball in New Zealand territory as they went through the phases, yet the Black wall stiffened once they entered the 22 where their breakdown work, led by the formidably impressive back row of Shannon Frizell, Sam Cane and Ardie Savea, became more aggressive iloilo
Jackalled turnovers were the norm and whereas Argentina were profligate, the All Blacks turned ball into points, usually off the back of their dominant maul iloilo
An early turnover in their own 22 led to a march down the field where a couple of phases in the tight after a 5m lineout created space wide on the right iloilo
Richie Mo’unga’s long pass to Will Jordan exploited this as the winger dived over for what would be the first of a treble on the day iloilo
Mark Tele’a had been dropped for the quarter-final win over Ireland due to breaching team protocol but, restored to the team in place of Leicester Fainga’anuku after a week in the wilderness, showed his class to have a huge hand in the second and third tries of the first half iloilo
His opportunistic turnover on his own 22 after 13 phases of Pumas attack started a spell of gorgeous All Blacks running rugby as they sliced and offloaded their way up the pitch off for Jordie Barrett skittle through tackles for the try in the corner iloilo
Tele’a then showed off his power just before half-time as he barrelled and spun through three defenders to take New Zealand within inches of the line, where Frizzell could jog over in the corner on the following phase iloilo
Jordie Barrett crashed over for the All Blacks’s second of seven tries (Getty Images)Given that no team had ever overcome a half-time deficit greater than seven points to win a World Cup semi-final, the 20-6 lead at the interval suggested it was game over iloilo
All doubt was removed just two minutes after the break when an All Blacks scrum on the 22 splintered the Pumas pack and the ageless Aaron Smith cut inside one defender, dummied past another and slid iloilo between two more for a sumptuous try iloilo
From there, it was just the formality of completing the final 38 minutes to confirm a 34th New Zealand win in 37 editions of this fixture iloilo
They refused to take their foot off the gas as Frizell burrowed over the line for try number five and Jordan ran in two more to make it a remarkable 31 tries in 30 Tests for him and a tournament record-equalling eight at this World Cup as the toothless Pumas were further declawed iloilo
His hat-trick score on 74 minutes was a thing of beauty as, starting in his own 22, he weaved iloilo between three defenders, then chipped over another on halfway before collecting his own kick to race in for the score iloilo
Message well and truly sent iloilo
The All Blacks have become World Cup specialists over the past 15 years and yet more history is now within their grasp iloilo
This semi-final may not live long in the memory but lifting the Webb Ellis Trophy for the fourth time certainly would iloilo
That reality is now deservedly just 80 minutes away iloilo
More aboutNew Zealand rugbyArgentina rugbyAll BlacksRugby World CupJoin our commenting forumJoin thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their repliesComments1/3All Blacks destruction of Argentina delivers World Cup semi-final flopAll Blacks destruction of Argentina delivers World Cup semi-final flopNew Zealand ran in try after try against Argentina Getty ImagesAll Blacks destruction of Argentina delivers World Cup semi-final flopJordie Barrett crashed over for the All Blacks’s second of seven tries Getty ImagesAll Blacks destruction of Argentina delivers World Cup semi-final flopNew Zealand destroyed Argentina at the Stade de France Getty Images✕Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this articleWant to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today iloilo
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