5. England 12 – 32 South Africa: 2019 Rugby World Cup Final
Look away England fans as this one may still be a bit sore. The 2019 Rugby World Cup was a rollercoaster experience for Eddie Jones’ side, as they outperformed expectations and found themselves in their first Rugby World Cup Final since 2007. The semi-final victory over an almighty All Blacks side will forever be remembered as England’s peak under Jones, as Manu Tuilagi’s firecracker start, led to England putting in one of their best performances that esteemed critiques and rugby personnel had ever seen.
However, the roaring fire that burned ahead of the clash against New Zealand, was withered down to no more than a smouldering ash before the final against the Springboks. England’s brash and cocky swagger which was iconified in the ‘arrow’ formation in response to the haka, Joe Marler stepping over the half way line and ‘that’ image of Owen Farrell smirking. Yet this vigour was no where to be seen against the Springboks.
However retrospectively, England fans were still confident. Pubs were full by 06:00am as time-zones proved to not bother the supporters who watched on from home. South Africa were seen as the lesser of two evils in their semi-final showdown with Wales. The Welshmen were considered greater threats, due to the local rivalry, and how a mortifying ‘banana peel slip’ may occur in Tokyo.
South Africa took this to their advantage, and clinically dissected England with first half penalties and a second half beat-down. The second 40 minutes racked up a score-line that a Rugby World Cup Final hadn’t seen since the aforementioned dominance of the All Blacks in ’87. England’s persistent discipline issues, Cheslin Kolbe’s step on Farrell and Ben Young’s ‘pass to nobody’ all summed up the one sided onslaught that the South Africans took to England.
After re-occurrent penalties from the tee established a 12-6 Springboks lead, Makazole Mapimpi scored the first try in the 66th minute. This marked a monumental moment for the Springboks, as they scored their first try in a Rugby World Cup Final. Cheslin Kolbe followed up with another try eight minutes later, gliding past Farrell with tricky footwork, and making the final score 32–12.
This score-line has become a simple, re-occurring phrase that ‘Boks fans have used to get under the skin of England supporters, as the score is a stark reminder of one of the greatest and most unexpected shut-out victories in Rugby World Cup history.
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