VIDEO: 'That was a proper Test match'
REACTION: It may put some coaches to sleep, nudge nudge wink wink!
However, England coach Steve Borthwick – as disappointed as he is – was thoroughly entertained by South Africa’s one-point (16-15) win over his England team in a World Cup semifinal at Stade de France in Paris at the weekend.
Borthwick was full of praise for his after their dramatic and disappointing loss to the Springboks.
England looked on their way to an upset win, leading 15-6 with 10 minutes remaining.
However, a converted RG Snyman try and a Handre Pollard penalty after England collapsed a scrum three minutes from time, saw the Boks record their second-consecutive one-point (16-15) win over England in a thrilling finish.
South Africa will now play New Zealand in the Final, back at the Stade de France next Saturday, while England will play Argentina in the third-place play-off at the same venue 24 hours earlier.
Borthwick said there are obvious reasons why the Springboks came from behind in the quarterfinal (a 29-28 win over France last week) and England this weekend.
(England coach Steve Borthwick explains why it is so tough to overcome the Springboks…)
“They [the Boks] are the current world champions and the current World no.1 [ranked team] for a reason,” Borthwick told @rugby365com.
“There have a lot of very good players and are very experienced.
“It was a tough Test and everybody who watches that again will think: ‘That’s a proper Test match’
“The millions watching that around the world will know that is an intense encounter.
“We are disappointed we came out on the wrong side of it.”
Borthwick hailed his team for their fine showing against the Boks.
“The whole team performance was strong,” said Borthwick about their forwards giving the highly-rated Bok pack a run for their money.
“We’re disappointed, we came here to win the game and we fell a bit short.
“They played their hearts out,” he said about his England team.
“It was an intense encounter, we’re disappointed we came out on the wrong side of it.”
Borthwick was full of praise for the Springboks.
“Immense credit to South Africa to come back and find a way to win.
“Great credit to them, they are the number one side in the world,” he added.
“They found the way to gain the advantage around the scrum and that gave them the field position and the points.”
Borthwick argued, however, that his team had a bright future ahead of them.
“If you look at this squad it is a very good squad of players. We had seven players 25 or under today, that’s the most of any semi-finalist. South Africa had one,” he said.
“This is a really talented group from the experienced to the not-so-experienced.”
@king365ed
@rugby365com
