Matt Dawson: England know how to win when it really matters
15th October 2007
Daily Mail
World Cup Final
ENGLAND VS SOUTH AFRICA
Saturday, 8pm BST
What a turnaround. England were almost out a few weeks ago but the win over France has convinced me their name is on the trophy. I just can't see them losing in the final. They are on the front foot.
They are the favourites.
Brian Ashton's team have suddenly become a tight, efficient machine. If the opposition make a mistake they know they will get punished and that puts so much fear in their minds.
Pressure point: England's Lewis Moody shows the commitment that helped leave Sebastien Chabal (below) in tears as he charges down a French kick
No side can go into a match against England now with any kind of confidence. Unless they can throw the ball around and individuals have outstanding games, they know they will be in trouble.
With 10 minutes to go on Saturday night, I said on air that England would win it. I just knew by then that they would be the team to turn pressure into points.
Part of the reason these players can handle such intense, high-stakes situations is because of what they go through every week with their clubs.
France's Sebastian Chabal looks dejected after his team's 14-9 defeat to England in the World Cup Semi-Final.
Every time they play in the Premiership or the Heineken Cup, there is so much riding on the outcome - whether it's pushing for titles and trophies or battling to avoid relegation. It all matters.
No game is irrelevant, so even the England players who are new to international sport know just what to do to win big games.
They looked so composed in that last 10-minute period. They may have been one point behind but they knew that if they kept plugging away and stuck to their plan, a chance would come. There was only going to be one result by then.
France had played well below their best, they had their chance and they blew it.
Breakout: Jason Robinson leaves the French in his trail as he makes a trademark run
Because England don't really play any rugby, they are such a difficult side to deal with. Other teams just don't know how to attack them.
All of a sudden England's defensive system has kicked in and all the players understand where they need to be.
They are now playing a very simple, territorial game, applying pressure when they need to. They have deliberately set out to be as tight as possible in defence and create opportunities for the opposition to make mistakes.
It's not pretty - they admit that - but it is effective. And all those Aussies and New Zealanders who will be carping on about boring, low-risk rugby are missing the point.
It is winning rugby. They may complain but they would give their right arms to see their team playing that way if it meant they were in the final.
If someone said to me: 'Come up with a plan to beat England', I would really struggle. They don't do anything in attack, so what do you do against them? How do you stop them when you don't really know what to stop? How do you break down that defence, which has become so solid?
France's strategy was very fragile. Planning to play a kicking game for 80 minutes is very risky because if it goes wrong, you have nowhere to go. They tried to punt the ball from 22 to 22, but that meant they simply did not put enough pressure on England's line.
Having said that, they did create one clear-cut, try-scoring chance, only to be superbly denied by Joe Worsley.
The game totally turned on his taptackle which stopped Vincent Clerc.
If he hadn't got to him, the wing would have been clear to score and France's lead of possibly eight points would have been too much for England to claw back.
If he hadn't reached him, it was game over.
But he did it. It will immediately take its place in the list of the greatest tackles in the history of England-France matches, up there with Jonny Wilkinson's famous big hit on Emile Ntamack.
It also shows how sport is all about fine lines, as everything would have been so different if Clerc had got away.
All those hours of training, the extra 100m sprints that Worsley puts in, paid off. It all meant he was fit enough and quick enough to make that decisive tackle.
If England go on to win the World Cup, he has to be lauded as the man responsible for the key turning point.
The set-piece went well again on Saturday, despite a couple of dodgy lineouts early on.
But if I was being ultra-critical, I would still like to see England hanging on to the ball more, rather than kicking it away.
Apart from that, there's really no need to change anything now. What they are doing is simple and it is clearly a winning formula. Don't bet against it working once more, to keep the World Cup in England.
ENGLAND'S ROUTE TO THE 2007 RUGBY WORLD CUP FINAL
Group Stage
Group A
England 28-10 United States
England 0-36 South Africa
England 44-22 Samoa
England 36-20 Tonga
Quarter Final
England 12-10 Australia
Semi Final
England 14-9 France
------------
SOUTH AFRICA'S ROUTE TO THE FINAL
Group Stage
Group A
South Africa 59-7 Samoa
South Africa 36-0 England
South Africa 30-25 Tonga
South Africa 64-15 United States
Quarter Final
South Africa 37-20 Fiji
Semi Final
South Africa 37-13 Argentina
dailymail.co.uk
15th October 2007
Daily Mail
World Cup Final
ENGLAND VS SOUTH AFRICA
Saturday, 8pm BST
What a turnaround. England were almost out a few weeks ago but the win over France has convinced me their name is on the trophy. I just can't see them losing in the final. They are on the front foot.
They are the favourites.
Brian Ashton's team have suddenly become a tight, efficient machine. If the opposition make a mistake they know they will get punished and that puts so much fear in their minds.
Pressure point: England's Lewis Moody shows the commitment that helped leave Sebastien Chabal (below) in tears as he charges down a French kick
No side can go into a match against England now with any kind of confidence. Unless they can throw the ball around and individuals have outstanding games, they know they will be in trouble.
With 10 minutes to go on Saturday night, I said on air that England would win it. I just knew by then that they would be the team to turn pressure into points.
Part of the reason these players can handle such intense, high-stakes situations is because of what they go through every week with their clubs.
France's Sebastian Chabal looks dejected after his team's 14-9 defeat to England in the World Cup Semi-Final.
Every time they play in the Premiership or the Heineken Cup, there is so much riding on the outcome - whether it's pushing for titles and trophies or battling to avoid relegation. It all matters.
No game is irrelevant, so even the England players who are new to international sport know just what to do to win big games.
They looked so composed in that last 10-minute period. They may have been one point behind but they knew that if they kept plugging away and stuck to their plan, a chance would come. There was only going to be one result by then.
France had played well below their best, they had their chance and they blew it.
Breakout: Jason Robinson leaves the French in his trail as he makes a trademark run
Because England don't really play any rugby, they are such a difficult side to deal with. Other teams just don't know how to attack them.
All of a sudden England's defensive system has kicked in and all the players understand where they need to be.
They are now playing a very simple, territorial game, applying pressure when they need to. They have deliberately set out to be as tight as possible in defence and create opportunities for the opposition to make mistakes.
It's not pretty - they admit that - but it is effective. And all those Aussies and New Zealanders who will be carping on about boring, low-risk rugby are missing the point.
It is winning rugby. They may complain but they would give their right arms to see their team playing that way if it meant they were in the final.
If someone said to me: 'Come up with a plan to beat England', I would really struggle. They don't do anything in attack, so what do you do against them? How do you stop them when you don't really know what to stop? How do you break down that defence, which has become so solid?
France's strategy was very fragile. Planning to play a kicking game for 80 minutes is very risky because if it goes wrong, you have nowhere to go. They tried to punt the ball from 22 to 22, but that meant they simply did not put enough pressure on England's line.
Having said that, they did create one clear-cut, try-scoring chance, only to be superbly denied by Joe Worsley.
The game totally turned on his taptackle which stopped Vincent Clerc.
If he hadn't got to him, the wing would have been clear to score and France's lead of possibly eight points would have been too much for England to claw back.
If he hadn't reached him, it was game over.
But he did it. It will immediately take its place in the list of the greatest tackles in the history of England-France matches, up there with Jonny Wilkinson's famous big hit on Emile Ntamack.
It also shows how sport is all about fine lines, as everything would have been so different if Clerc had got away.
All those hours of training, the extra 100m sprints that Worsley puts in, paid off. It all meant he was fit enough and quick enough to make that decisive tackle.
If England go on to win the World Cup, he has to be lauded as the man responsible for the key turning point.
The set-piece went well again on Saturday, despite a couple of dodgy lineouts early on.
But if I was being ultra-critical, I would still like to see England hanging on to the ball more, rather than kicking it away.
Apart from that, there's really no need to change anything now. What they are doing is simple and it is clearly a winning formula. Don't bet against it working once more, to keep the World Cup in England.
ENGLAND'S ROUTE TO THE 2007 RUGBY WORLD CUP FINAL
Group Stage
Group A
England 28-10 United States
England 0-36 South Africa
England 44-22 Samoa
England 36-20 Tonga
Quarter Final
England 12-10 Australia
Semi Final
England 14-9 France
------------
SOUTH AFRICA'S ROUTE TO THE FINAL
Group Stage
Group A
South Africa 59-7 Samoa
South Africa 36-0 England
South Africa 30-25 Tonga
South Africa 64-15 United States
Quarter Final
South Africa 37-20 Fiji
Semi Final
South Africa 37-13 Argentina
dailymail.co.uk
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