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Date: 2023-12-06 00:53:35 | Author: UEFA | Views: 791 | Tag: sports
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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 sports
England’s pack, and their front row in particular, will have had four years of sleepless nights about that early November evening in 2019 sports
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 sports
The Springboks, then as now, pride themselves on their physicality and brutality at the breakdown, the set-piece and in open play sports
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 sports
Yet it still wasn’t enough sports
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 sports
The Springbok celebrations were more muted this time, understandably so given there is one more crucial match against the All Blacks standing sports between them and their ultimate goal, but the English heartbreak was the same, even if the journey to get there was vastly different sports
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 sports
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 sports
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 sports
And the fact they not only survived, but thrived, in the front row this time around will have been sheer vindication sports
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 sports
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 sports
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 sports
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 sports
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 sports
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 sports
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 sports
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 sports
If Boks lock Eben Etzesports beth is world rugby’s best maul disruptor, then he may have witnessed first-hand the emergence of a new challenger to that crown sports
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 sports
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 sports
It began putting clear doubt in Springbok minds, as the worried tone from skipper Siya Kolisi when he discussed matter with referee O’Keeffe sports betrayed sports
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 sports
But ultimately, despite a gameplan executed as well as it possibly could have been, the gap in quality sports between the sides proved too much to overcome sports
South Africa adjusted, Pollard came on for Manie Libbok to dictate proceedings with his metronomic boot and English heartbreak ensued sports
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 sports
But that won’t make this semi-final hurt any less sports
Perhaps 2027 will give them an opportunity to avenge a new pain sports
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 sports
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The last perfect records vanished in the NFL as the San Francisco 49ers and Philadelphia Eagles both fell to surprise defeats sports
Brock Purdy suffered his first defeat as a starter as rookie Jake Moody’s 41-yard field goal miss saw the 49ers go down 19-17 at the Cleveland Browns sports
The end of a 15-game regular season winning streak also saw star running back Christian McCaffrey – who earlier made it 15-straight games with a touchdown – injure his oblique and rib, wide receiver Deebo Samuel leave with a shoulder injury and tackle Trent Williams suffer an ankle injury sports
PJ Walker, who came off Cleveland’s practice squad to replace the injured Deshaun Watson at quarterback, outplayed Purdy as Dustin Hopkins kicked four field goals for the Browns, capped off with the winner one minute and 40 seconds from full-time sports
The Eagles fell to their first defeat in 13 meetings against the New York Jets as Breece Hall ran for an eight-yard touchdown with one minute and 46 seconds left on the clock – topped off with Zach Wilson finding Randall Cobb on a two-point conversion to make it 20-14 sports
Hall’s score came a play after Tony Adams had intercepted Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts and returned it 45 yards sports
Josh Allen engineered two lengthy scoring drives as the Buffalo Bills battled to a 14-9 victory over the New York Giants sports
Quinton Morris caught a 15-yard touchdown pass to put the Bills ahead with just under four minutes remaining, the Giants failing from first and goal with the final drive of the game sports
The Miami Dolphins are 5-1 and top of the AFC East after they came from 14 points down to beat the winless Carolina Panthers 42-21, Tua Tagovailoa throwing for 262 yards with touchdown passes to three different receivers sports
Trevor Lawrence threw for two touchdown passes and Travis Etienne ran for two more as the Jacksonville Jaguars beat AFC South rival the Indianapolis Colts 37-20 while the Houston Texans beat the Orleans Saints 20-13 sports
The Detroit Lions have made their best start to a season since 2011 after Jared Goff threw for 353 yards and a pair of touchdowns in a 20-6 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, improving their NFC North-leading record to 5-1 sports
Kyren Williams ran for 158 yards and a touchdown while Cooper Kupp grabbed his first touchdown of the season as the Los Angeles Rams scored 23 unanswered points in the second half to beat the Arizona Cardinals 26-9 sports
Atlanta Falcons quarterback Desmond Ridder was intercepted three times as they went down 24-16 to the Washington Commanders, while the Las Vegas Raiders overcame the loss of quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo to beat the faltering New England Patriots 21-17 sports
The Cincinnati defence intercepted Geno Smith twice as the Bengals edged past the Seattle Seahawks 17-13, and the Chicago Bears lost quarterback Justin Fields as they went down 19-13 to the Minnesota Vikings sports
More aboutSan Francisco 49ersCleveland BrownsDetroit LionsChicago BearsArizona CardinalsMiami DolphinsPhiladelphia EaglesJared GoffJustin FieldsJimmy GaroppoloHouston TexansJacksonville JaguarsDeshaun WatsonBuffalo BillsTampa Bay BuccaneersZach Wilson1/1Cleveland Browns end San Francisco 49ers winning streak Cleveland Browns end San Francisco 49ers winning streakSan Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy (13) scrambles away from Cleveland Browns linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah (Sue Ogrocki/AP)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 sports
SubscribeAlready subscribed? Log inMost PopularPopular videosSponsored Features Get in touchContact usOur ProductsSubscribeRegisterNewslettersDonateToday’s EditionInstall our appArchiveOther publicationsInternational editionsIndependent en EspañolIndependent ArabiaIndependent TurkishIndependent PersianIndependent UrduEvening StandardExtrasAdvisorPuzzlesAll topicssports BettingVoucher codesCompareCompetitions and offersIndependent AdvertisingIndependent IgniteSyndicationWorking at The IndependentLegalCode of conduct and complaintsContributorsCookie policyDonations Terms & ConditionsPrivacy noticeUser policiesModern Slavery Act Thank 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 sports
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