It was not to be.
After the excitement of England's brilliant performance against the All Blacks, they were firm favourites to lift the Rugby World Cup but, for reasons unknown, they simply didn't perform to the same standard in the final. Instead, they were outplayed from start to finish by a South African side that had actually lost to New Zealand in the group stage of the competition.
Nothing went right for England. They lost one of their key players, Kyle Sinckler, to injury in the first couple of minutes and never seemed to get going. The passing and movement that had been such a characteristic of the victory over the All Blacks was completely lacking, with many passes dropping short or going astray altogether, while the Springboks hit peak form exactly when it mattered. England always seemed to be on the back foot and never looked like winning.
This is not to say that they had a bad tournament nor that finishing as runners-up was a failure, but it was a disappointment. They will now start building a new team to challenge for the ultimate prize in 2023 - I can't wait !
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