Before anyone says anything, I am aware that I have said throughout the World Cup that I wasn’t supporting England and that I had a few reasons for that, and those reasons still exist, and honestly, last night was just further examples of my issues with Steve Borthwick, because he wasn’t choosing the team based on form and fitness, but on the basis of who he likes and that annoys me because it’s not fair to the players left out and it’s not fair to the fans who expect to see the best team on the pitch when they’re turning up to support their team.
Last night was the sort of game where I thought, wow, England are actually playing the way that we want them to. I can’t help feeling emotionally invested whether they are winning or losing because I have supported them for so long, for one, and for another because whether I’m happy about it or not, I am English. There were some amazing things going on during that match, though Farrell running his mouth lead to a penalty being brought forward, his decision to go for the points on the second penalty was one I questioned since they were so close to the try line, and the most ridiculous one of all was it took so long for Steve Borthwick to empty the bench after the Boks brought in The Bomb Squad. Sadly, the England players whom he had matched to The Bomb Squad were not the right ones. I love Sinkler, Genge and Chessum, but both Sinkler and Henge gave away penalties in the scrum which makes me wonder whether they would have been better starting and bringing on Cole and Marler against The Bomb Squad, maybe with Dan. As it was Dan was on the bench the whole game and Ford was brought on when it was basically all over. It was far too late in the game for him to turn it on it’s head and honestly, I think he should have been brought onto the pitch to look for the drop goal opportunities when South Africa were back within two points of England because it was clear that they were looking for the penalty that would win it, which is exactly what happened.
Vunipola was basically useless in place of Curry when he was brought in so Curry could have his nose sorted (he’s definitely headed for a nose that looks like Borthwick’s!) and that was disappointing, because nothing he’s done this tournament has been particularly standout, leaving the question of who outside of the England squad should have had his seat on the coach. I am furious about George Ford being used as a bench warmer, given that it was his performance in the early games where he put an absolute shift in, that gave England the momentum that left them as the only unbeaten team in the semi finals, and then the second Farrell was allowed to play again, he was like the forgotten toy that Borthwick was no longer interested in playing, but my biggest frustration with last night was Freddie Steward.
Freddie Steward was belting last night, and the thing that upset me was that towards the end of the game, it was clear that he was tired from everything he had done, and he was kept on the pitch for, if not the whole eighty, close to it. He made a couple of errors towards the end of the game, most likely because he was knackered, and in the post match interviews it was clear that he was kicking himself from it, and he shouldn’t have been, because a bad pick on the team meant that h4 couldn’t be replaced. The second any of the Boks weren’t performing completely on form Erasmus pulled them, and it was brutal, but it was also what needed to be done to get his team to victory. I’m not saying that when Steward dropped the last long ball he should have been pulled off like he was a kid caught doing something he shouldn’t, but I do think Borthwick should have seen that he needed to come off and moved him back to the bench, telling him how good he’s been all game.
The commentators kept talking about how ‘greasy’ the ball was because it was raining (why on Earth not just say the ball is wet, for Christ’s sake) and that didn’t help, but he’s English, he’s used to a bit of rain, and it wasn’t his only error.
Whilst there were a few decisions by the ref that definitely contributed to the loss, I have said before how much I despise when people blame the ref for losing, and I definitely think that one of those decisions was more Farrell not being able to deal with his own frustration and keep his mouth shut, especially given that England were leading the game at that point.
Overall, it was an incredible game where England showed they still have it in them to win the World Cup, the potential that is. To be leading the game until so late on was absolutely amazing, even for someone who doesn’t want to be an England fan right now. My hope is that they continue to build on the work that has been done here so when we’re looking at the Six Nations next year, hopefully there is some new blood in the squad and hopefully it’s some of the incredible players who never even made it to the bench this time around.
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