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Date: 2023-12-04 20:41:43 | Author: Olympics 2024 | Views: 122 | Tag: jili
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Not always in sport do you get a shot at redemption and successfully taking advantage of that opportunity is even rarer jili
England’s pack, and their front row in particular, will have had four years of sleepless nights about that early November evening in 2019 jili
In the 2019 Rugby World Cup final, England were decimated by South Africa’s power up front, as the brilliance of a scintillating semi-final win over New Zealand was quickly replaced by the humiliation of a 32-12 thumping jili
The Springboks, then as now, pride themselves on their physicality and brutality at the breakdown, the set-piece and in open play jili
Yet on a rainy night in Paris four years on, England’s pack fronted up, set the platform in a thrilling World Cup semi-final and earned their redemption arc jili
Yet it still wasn’t enough jili
This time, albeit by one point rather than 20, the result was the same – England’s players slumped on the turf in despair while their opponents revelled in victory jili
The Springbok celebrations were more muted this time, understandably so given there is one more crucial match against the All Blacks standing jili between them and their ultimate goal, but the English heartbreak was the same, even if the journey to get there was vastly different jili
In Yokohama, South Africa won a scarcely believable 11 scrums to England’s three, including six scrum penalties, as the English eight were splintered time and again jili
Dan Cole became the fall guy for that embarrassment – the tighthead prop, supposedly renowned for his scrummaging, forced to play 77 minutes after Kyle Sinckler’s early injury and being obliterated by the combination of Tendai ‘Beast’ Mtawarira and Steven Kitshoff jili
The fact that Cole and Joe Marler, who came off the bench early in the second half that day, were selected by Steve Borthwick to start this revenge game precisely because of their scrum prowess will have surely given them a surge of confidence jili
And the fact they not only survived, but thrived, in the front row this time around will have been sheer vindication jili
Borthwick entrusted the duo to paint an early picture of scrum parity to referee Ben O’Keeffe and they delivered, providing the base that led to multiple first-half penalties from the trusty boot of Owen Farrell jili
Cole and Marler helped ensure scrum parity early on but that faded once the replacements came on (AFP via Getty Images)However, as the game wore on, Borthwick’s decision started to become prescient for the wrong reasons jili
As Sinckler and Ellis Genge came on as prop replacements, the Springboks own bomb squad from the bench – led by Ox Nche and Vincent Koch – started to dominate at scrum-time jili
Each engagement started to become eerily reminiscent of 2019 and it was eventually a scrum penalty on halfway that led to Handre Pollard’s decisive, game-winning three-pointer with two minutes to go jili
It felt almost unfair on England’s big men given that the pack, as a whole, had more than held their own in other facets jili
Of the 13 England forwards who played some part in that 2019 final, eight appeared in this last-four clash and stamped their mark all over a first half that was by far England’s best 40 minutes under Borthwick jili
Maro Itoje was a lineout fiend, stealing a Springboks throw-in on halfway and putting doubt in the head of Bongi Mbonambi, whose crooked throw in his own 22 gave Farrell his first penalty goal of the day jili
A new face from four years, George Martin, justified his surprise second-row selection ahead of incumbent Ollie Chessum on just his fourth Test start as he brilliantly marshalled England’s maul defence jili
If Boks lock Eben Etzejili beth is world rugby’s best maul disruptor, then he may have witnessed first-hand the emergence of a new challenger to that crown jili
Martin caused havoc as England improbably won three consecutive maul turnovers from attacking South African lineouts in the first half to frustrate their much-fancied opponents jili
Pollard ultimately kicked the winning penalty, from a scrum infringement (PA Wire)The celebrations from the likes of Itoje, Jamie George and Ben Earl as those penalties and free-kicks were earned by the pack showed just how important this part of the gameplan was jili
It began putting clear doubt in Springbok minds, as the worried tone from skipper Siya Kolisi when he discussed matter with referee O’Keeffe jili betrayed jili
The English tactic of throwing bodies in to contest every ruck relied on the diesel engines of the forwards and they delivered by dominating collisions and allowing the aerial bombardment strategy that followed to be effective jili
But ultimately, despite a gameplan executed as well as it possibly could have been, the gap in quality jili between the sides proved too much to overcome jili
South Africa adjusted, Pollard came on for Manie Libbok to dictate proceedings with his metronomic boot and English heartbreak ensued jili
There was no shame in a one-point defeat from a semi-final that was much closer than most expected and England’s pack should feel redeemed from the nightmare of 2019 jili
But that won’t make this semi-final hurt any less jili
Perhaps 2027 will give them an opportunity to avenge a new pain jili
More aboutEngland RugbySouth Africa rugbyRugby World CupDan ColeJoin our commenting forumJoin thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their repliesComments1/3England pack earn World Cup redemption but suffer new heartbreakEngland pack earn World Cup redemption but suffer new heartbreakCole and Marler helped ensure scrum parity early on but that faded once the replacements came on AFP via Getty ImagesEngland pack earn World Cup redemption but suffer new heartbreakPollard ultimately kicked the winning penalty, from a scrum infringement PA WireEngland pack earn World Cup redemption but suffer new heartbreakDan Cole was England’s fall guy in 2019 but held his own four years on AP✕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 jili
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What a difference a week makes jili
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 jili
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 jili
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 jili
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 jili
Their ruthlessly efficient performance suggests the crisis of the summer of 2022 is well and truly behind them jili
A mouth-watering battle with South Africa to become the first four-time winners of this competition next Saturday seems almost inevitable jili
But from the adrenaline-fuelled highs delivered by last weekend’s iconic double-header, this was the ultimate comedown jili
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 jili between the teams, the feeling that this was an event very much “after the Lord Mayor’s show” was unavoidable throughout jili
Which is to take nothing away from New Zealand – you can only beat who’s in front of you jili
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 jili
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 jili
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 jili
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 jili
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 jili
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 jili
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 jili
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 jili
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 jili
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 jili
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 jili
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 jili
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 jili
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 jili
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 jili
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 jili between two more for a sumptuous try jili
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 jili
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 jili
His hat-trick score on 74 minutes was a thing of beauty as, starting in his own 22, he weaved jili between three defenders, then chipped over another on halfway before collecting his own kick to race in for the score jili
Message well and truly sent jili
The All Blacks have become World Cup specialists over the past 15 years and yet more history is now within their grasp jili
This semi-final may not live long in the memory but lifting the Webb Ellis Trophy for the fourth time certainly would jili
That reality is now deservedly just 80 minutes away jili
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 jili
SubscribeAlready subscribed? Log inMost PopularPopular videosSponsored FeaturesGet in touchContact usOur ProductsSubscribeRegisterNewslettersDonateToday’s EditionInstall our appArchiveOther publicationsInternational editionsIndependent en EspañolIndependent ArabiaIndependent TurkishIndependent PersianIndependent UrduEvening StandardExtrasAdvisorPuzzlesAll topicsjili BettingVoucher codesCompareCompetitions and offersIndependent AdvertisingIndependent IgniteSyndicationWorking at The IndependentLegalCode of conduct and complaintsContributorsCookie policyDonations Terms & ConditionsPrivacy noticeUser policiesModern Slavery ActThank you for registeringPlease refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged inCloseUS EditionChangeUK EditionAsia EditionEdición en EspañolSubscribe{{indy jili
truncatedName}}Log in / Register {{#items}}{{#stampSmall}}{{/stampSmall}}{{#stampClimate}}{{/stampClimate}}{{#stampPremium}}{{/stampPremium}}{{title}}{{#desc}}{{desc}}{{/desc}}{{#children}}{{title}}{{/children}}{{/items}}Indy100Crosswords & PuzzlesMost CommentedNewslettersAsk Me AnythingVirtual EventsVouchersCompare✕Log inEmail addressPasswordEmail and password don't matchSubmitForgotten your password?New to The Independent?RegisterOr if you would prefer:SIGN IN WITH GOOGLEWant an ad-free experience?View offersThis site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy notice and Terms of service apply jili
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