The England rugby team has lost 12-32 against South Africa in the World Cup final, after being dominated in the second half.
South Africa played a strong game throughout, outplaying England at every turn in Yokohama. This marks a third Rugby World Cup win for South Africa, with tries from Makazole Mapimpi and Cheslin Kolbe taking the Springboks to victory.
This marked the second meeting between the two teams in the tournament, with South Africa previously proving victorious in Paris 12 years ago. This also marks the very first time South Africa has had a black captain, Siya Kolisi.
South Africa’s Handré Pollard missed a kickable penalty, before England were forced into an early change when Kyle Sinckler suffered a concussion after attempting to tackle Makazole Mapimpi, leading to him being substituted.
England fans were in high spirits last week following a triumphant semi-final win against New Zealand, however this time they proved no match for South Africa.
England World Cup winner Matt Dawson praised the South African team while appearing on BBC Radio 5 Live, describing it as ‘one of, if not the, greatest victory in a World Cup final’.
Dawson added:
England have been done and dusted in the classroom and the training field. Ultimately they were put away by a South Africa team and management who looked like they were in positions England wanted to be before England were there. They weren’t one step ahead, they were two or three ahead.
I was hoping somewhere, in the bowels of the England staff and management, they would have had those angles covered and that they would have expected something like that from South Africa, but it didn’t look that way.
Congratulations to South Africa!
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Jules studied English Literature with Creative Writing at Lancaster University before earning her masters in International Relations at Leiden University in The Netherlands (Hoi!). She then trained as a journalist through News Associates in Manchester. Jules has previously worked as a mental health blogger, copywriter and freelancer for various publications.