The irony was that the pressure point penalty from 50 metres from a crabbing, under pressure England scrum, did not tell anything like the full story of a match in which this side had the Springboks on the ropes for long periods.
In fact, the South Africans only managed to break the red rose chokehold in the last 12 minutes, because revenge is a huge motivator, and this England side had plenty to avenge.
It has been four long, painful years for England rugby since Eddie Jones’ side were they were blitzed by South Africa in the 2019 World Cup final, and the fact that 10 of Steve Borthwick’s starting 15 for this semi-final against the Springboks were silver medallists that day spoke volumes for the motivation of this team.
If they are honest, England have mostly been a poor side in the intervening four years – and there has not been a great deal in this World Cup to get excited about despite their unbeaten record in the tournament.
Make no mistake there was plenty to cheer here, and they were only thwarted when the South Africans were re-energised just enough by their bench to pull the match out of the fire.
The telling blow was struck on 68 minutes, when, with the Springboks trailing 15-6, a charge from a five metre line-out saw Faf de Klerk’s pass find their giant bench lock RG Snyman.
England did their best to drag him down, but the big man stayed on his feet long enough to twist over for the only try of the match, and with Pollard converting it was 15-13, and on a knife edge. And when Pollard had the chance for one last strike he proved his class, and his cool, to nail it.
Esta historia es de la edición October 22, 2023 de The Rugby Paper.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 8500 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición October 22, 2023 de The Rugby Paper.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 8500 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
Minikin sparks a party at Twickenham for Yorkshire
EUPHORIC scenes swept round Ionians ground as Lewis Minikin dashed over to score Yorkshire's fourth try to send the white rose to Twickenham for the first time in 16 years.
Rebels facing tough test against 'Canes
SUPER Rugby Pacific play-off spots were confirmed this weekend, with the soon-to-be extinct Melbourne Rebels living to fight another day in eighth place.
Ospreys' Nicky just too tricky for Cardiff
LEICESTER-BOUND, Smith scored Nicky two tries as Ospreys squeezed into the playoffs with a bonus-point victory over a battling Cardiff in an enthralling game.
Quins want to throw fitting farewell party
HARLEQUINS stars Shaunagh Brown, Rachael Burford and Emily Scott start their final game for the club today.
Mapletoft set for Georgia challenge
ENGLAND U20s head coach Mark Mapletoft has confirmed his 30-player squad that travel to Georgia next week in preparation for next month's World Championship.
Gloucester put faith in 'some old heads'
IT was typical of Gloucester's season - make that the last couple that when they came up against a front five in last weekend's Challenge Cup final that contained four World Cup winners they were missing three frontline forwards.
Smith has final say for Saints
NORTHAMPTON Saints, having run teams ragged in glorious fashion all season, scrummaged and muscled their way to their first Premiership final since 2014 but a resilient Saracens contested the issue until the final whistle.
Finally! Bath hold nerve to see off Sharks
BATH are one victory away from winning the Premiership for the first time after surviving a Sale comeback, but they are likely to be underdogs against a Northampton that has been a couple more years in the making.
Chessum 'gutted' to miss out on England
OLLIE Chessum admits he is \"gutted\" to be missing out on a busy summer with England in the southern hemisphere.
Boyd got me back on track - Ludlam
LEWIS left the Ludlam Franklin's Gardens turf in a Northampton jersey for perhaps the last time on Friday night, six years after he thought about ending his career because he feared it was going nowhere.