DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS

STEVE BORTHWICK has been handed the secret of how to shut out tight games by a Springboks team that know how to get the job done.

- Adam Hathaway

The England head coach was left fuming at his side's failure to close the deal in Saturday's 42-37 defeat by Australia, and was seen banging his desk in frustration at the end of the match.

England have slipped to close defeats by France, three times to the All Blacks and then repeated the trick against the Wallabies since their last-gasp victory over Ireland in March.

In contrast, South Africa won the last World Cup on the back of one-point victories in all their knockout games, including getting over the line 16-15 against England in the semi-final in Paris.

Cobus Reinach, the former Northampton scrum-half, was part of victorious squads in 2019 - when the Boks beat England in the final - and at France 2023.