femaleArren Gatland was right about England in the end. They had a “final” match against All Blacks, the biggest shock being that the defeat by South Africa was so similar. Just as England stopped playing the All Blacks, Springboks played the same role as Eddie Jones.
I wonder if you can stop power games in England, if you can stop them on the gain line. In this case, I would like to say that the UK actually has some not enough about South Africa inspired. It's not that there was no idea in England. You may have been criticized lately.
We watched them try to adjust. Jones made changes by introducing Joe Marler and George Kruis. I could see what they were trying to do with the kick chase – tackle and get a penalty, control things from there, but it affected the early half of the year but South Africa counterattacked.
What's the difference a week? Britain couldn't make that kind of departure against All Black. They could not go ahead and control their territory to squeeze out Springbok's life. The opposite happened. I was deeply impressed by England's attack in the tournament, but at some point in the second half, Manu Tuilagi brought the ball and by then you would not have known that he was playing.
It's easy to blame nerves in the UK, but I don't think so. They would have been nervous before the semifinals. When I speak, from experience, it's when nerves are at their worst. You just want to go to the finals, you are desperate but once you get there, you loosen a bit. Maybe it was a British problem.
There was nothing early in the game. Against All Blacks everything was fluid and the UK immediately discovered the rhythm. Vunipolas built the yard and Tuilagi did too, but this time he could not. They did not widen the ball backwards. It was two big carriers against New Zealand and it was wide but we didn't see it. And you can see that an error occurs as Ben Youngs completely destroyed. Or Billy Vunipola leaves the back of the scrum and then gets a loose pass. It was the right choice. You can't go wrong with British decisions, but their execution disappoints them.
I've said this before but it's very difficult to back up your emotional performances with other performances. England was too hard to go back after 7 days to get the mindset after the semifinals. I would not say that they are overly confident or unsatisfied. I think the UK was prepared for the coming. Howling like a scoring line is ultimately a good margin game, but the ball's bounce went the way of South Africa at night. England had a chance. They reached within three points, but thanks to set piece dominance South Africa was able to withdraw, with 2 bits of magic and suddenly the British are chasing shadows.
As impressed with how Jones changed England, one must admire what Rassie Erasmus achieved in South Africa. Less than two years after New Zealand beat 60, he gave him the belief that he could win the World Cup. And they delivered.
They turned on for 80 minutes. Whether it's an ingenious lineup or a penalty earned by "minimalist" right in front of the second half posts, they were mentally too keen. It may seem like a cheap punishment for the British to throw away, but in fact it is proof of a clever accident for a week by South Africa and it is very well built. They were mainly attached to guns and wanted to change the effective style without hearing outside noises, and the Faf de Klerk and Handre Pollard were very well filled. Ultimately they smothered British life.
Although they weren't exactly the way they played Wales, they weren't too far away and could make a mistake in England. We've never seen it before in the tournament and what you can see from the UK perspective is that it just came at the wrong time. And the UK returned to a state of no profit.
Tom Curry and Sam Underhill once again played a good game but were not as effective as the previous one. Every time they had a bit of joy, the back row of Springboks could reply and Erasmus could bring Francois Louw in the second half, which is such an advantage given how effective he is at breakdown.
It is far from the UK. The state should be very proud of what they have achieved. They are a young team but they had the ability to win. It was a good time for the players of this group. They had the belief that they had a big win this year in Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.
Not so, but the future is bright. British supporters have every reason to be excited when the pain subsides.
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