South Africa are through to back-to-back World Cup finals after a gripping encounter with England in Paris.
England did to South Africa what South Africa do to many other teams. They confronted South Africa in the setpiece, while playing a near perfect aerial battle.
It was only last week that we were lauding South Africa for their kicking style, transferring pressure to the opposition in an aerial assault before sparking to life in the transition back to attack. Against France, three of their tries came directly from winning the contest in the air.
This time the kicking game was used against them. England targeted the two South African wingers, who are smaller in stature and England did it to great effect. Elliot Daly started the game brightly, cleverly manoeuvring his way around the South African cover to get a clearer run at the ball.
Jonny May influenced the latter stages of the game compared to Daly, and Freddie Stewart had a huge part to play in terms of securing their own possession in the aerial dual.
South Africa kicked poorly by their own standards, kicking too long to fully contest, while England covered their kickers pretty well in a 'glove' shape that teams are currently using to stop the aerial competition. This ‘glove’ is a shape made by retreating players, forming an arc around the catcher to make sure that the opposition chaser can’t get close enough to challenge in the air.
When retreating players work early to beat the chasers, they then slow down to create a separation of space between any of the opposition players and their own back field player. Of course there are players that are better in the air than others, but it’s crucial to watch the kick chase and protection when analysing any team's aerial ability.
It takes a lot of organisational strategy to get this right and England certainly had their homework done on their own strategies to beat South Africa.
When Pieter-Steph du Toit tried to buy time for his catcher he gave away a penalty. It was only a slight movement from him, but it was away from the direction that the ball was travelling and it impeded Jonny May, who subsequently impeded the catcher.
England had a clear upper hand in this key area of the game, South Africa looked naive compared to some of their other performances. England were the aggressors in a confrontational battle against South Africa, who pride themselves on the personal battle between themselves and the opposition.
England kicked a lot shorter, meaning they competed for everything. Even when they didn’t win the ball back, they caused trouble for South Africa in the subsequent rucks.
The problem for England is that they never broke out of the mould as the game wore on. Farrell had a pair of clever diagonal grubber kicks in behind the South African defence, forcing errors from Arendse and Willemse, giving them opportunities in the lineout that they couldn’t convert.
Whereas in the past when we’ve seen South Africa relying on their kicking game, they were able to spark into their transition attack when they won the ball back. England didn’t have as much of a spark but they could easily have won the game if they continued their kicking accuracy.
Do New Zealand have a slight edge over South Africa as the two sides prepare for the World Cup final? It's going to be tight but recent changes for the All Blacks might well prove to be the difference. #RTErugby #AgainstTheHead pic.twitter.com/TvhG46ffUc
— RTÉ Rugby (@RTErugby) October 23, 2023
Mitchell, who kicked effectively for most of the day, kicked one out on the full which was one of the moments where the tide started to turn slightly.
The poor weather in Paris meant that it was always going to be a tighter game with less ambition in attack.
It’ll be said that it was a boring game and you won’t convert any new rugby supporters as a result but those games happen in every sport. It was a war of attrition and a tactical battle that went down to the final play.
England had no alternative when the kicking game was giving up on them. One or two knock-ons crept in throughout the aerial bombardment and unfortunately for England, the South African subs bench had a much more influential effect on the game than their own.
With Ox Nche at loose head, South Africa were awarded four penalties at the scrum, as well as winning one ball on the English put in.
While England started with three defensive lineout wins, a scrum penalty of their own for Kitsoff taking a knee in the scrum and their defensive maul didn’t allow any platform for South Africa, they ran out of steam before the end of the game and South Africa ground them down like a champion team can.
Ironically, it was a poor kick from Stewart, leading to his own knock-on that led to the last South African scrum penalty. Handre Pollard stepped up nonchalantly and kicked South Africa back to a final decider with New Zealand.
England nearly pulled off an unlikely victory in a combative tactical masterclass. They failed to transfer some of their defensive and kicking pressure into enough points to win the game. When their kicking game resulted in scrum pressure on themselves, they didn’t change tactics and South Africa used this to their own advantage.
South Africa will now play New Zealand in the final, in more of a clash of styles.
More: Lenihan: 'Loosehead destroyer' Nche key to South Africa's scrum superiority
The final test for New Zealand in this World Cup, is whether they can avenge their warm-up game in Twickenham. Their pack will be under enormous scrutiny leading into the game, however, that’s the same full strength pack that silenced some of their critics in the quarter-final against Ireland.
New Zealand were more of a match for Ireland’s evasive attacking game plan, whereas South Africa can be confrontational with a rapid transition into their own elusive attacking strategies. South Africa can be a tough match up for New Zealand because of their defensive pressure and edge in the front five forwards.
However, on their day, New Zealand can curate a game plan that can outfox any of the top nations. They’ll be fresher after an easier quarter-final and going into another game as underdogs.
All the talk has been about South Africa and New Zealand have shown that they like it that way.
Rassie Erasmus has his own approach to game strategies and can find a way to beat anyone through his clarity of gameplan and the motivation he gives the players. It’ll be a fascinating encounter and a showcase between two of them best teams in the world.
Watch New Zealand v South Africa in the Rugby World Cup final on Saturday from 7pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, follow a live blog on RTE.ie/Sport or the RTÉ News app
