Well the Rugby World Cup is done and dusted. England
seem to have gone from heroes to zeroes in the space of twenty four hours in
the eyes of the media with barely a mention of yesterday’s RWC final on the
radio this morning. South Africa’s power and mightily effective game plan did to
England what England had done to the All Blacks in the semifinal. Yes, South
Africa are the champions and thoroughly deserved to win yesterday. England have
had a great tournament but just couldn’t get back to the level that they had
reached the previous week.
When I reflect on the RWC, it is clear that a good big
one will virtually always beat a good little one. Winning rugby is currently
all about power and stifling defence coupled with pressure generated by countless
box kicks from the scrum half. It is about preying on mistakes while trying not
to make any mistakes yourselves. In the Northern Hemisphere the winners are the
ones who do this best. Sadly it seems this is now applying in the Southern Hemisphere
too. In the RWC there was some delightful rugby from the Japanese, the Fijians
and of course New Zealand but ultimately it couldn’t trump power.
The power of the players and the shuddering impacts
during the games bring with them a high injury toll and in a tournament the length
of the injury list can have a big effect on the final outcome. It begins to
sound like gladiatorial combat or even war.
Yesterday’s showpiece was a penalty fest for the first
hour or so with all eyes turned to the referee at every breakdown and scrum
waiting to see which way his raised arm pointed. It is such a lottery sometimes
that I am sure the casual observer (like everyone else!) is completely
bamboozled. Fortunately the Springboks brightened up the game with a couple of
good tries or it would have been a pretty poor advertisement for rugby union.
Did I enjoy the RWC? Yes I did - although being a
Welsh supporter it was full of anxious moments as Wales clawed their way into
the semi final. The Japanese organised everything very well with their usual
attention for detail and they coped remarkably with the typhoon. I cannot
imagine French children learning the Japanese, Welsh and Fijian national anthems
in four years time.
I shall miss the early morning entertainment that is
for sure. At least there might be something other than English rugby in the
Sunday papers this morning but then if the alternative is Brexit and the election
perhaps it would have been better if England had won.
Roll on next Saturday and Pontypool Park.
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