Rugby World Cup Blog | Jonah Lomu | 2007

South Africa victorious

Sun Oct 21 08:30AM

Finally, after six weeks and 51 games we came down to the final game at Stade de France last night. Not the final that anyone would have predicted or expected but the two teams who deserved to be there. Today I watched the sea of white arrive in Paris, they were everywhere. Sprinkled through the sea of white were large pockets of green, small numbers of Gold and black, die hard supporters who lost their teams earlier in the piece but who stayed on to celebrate what this tournament was all about. Today felt a bit like groundhog day, taking me back to the 14th of September, a replay of their first encounter where South Africa embarrassed the English by 36 points to zero and where Jason Robinson bravely represented England before leaving the field with a hamstring injury.

I arrived early at the stadium to do a speaking engagement with American Express and the atmosphere was building from very early in the evening. There were huge numbers of England supporters and they dominated the 80,430 fans that had turned out to watch this spectacle.

The game started with a lot of intensity and huge physical presence from both sides. The forward pack encounter was as expected and did not disappoint. The England pack is one of the strengths of the side but South Africa really stepped up and at times dominated the English. The English looked to be in the game from the beginning and put a lot of pressure on the South Africans deep in their territory.

The first half of the game was so tight, each side defending majestically but neither crossing the white line. Fourie de Preez and Francois Steyn made some big breaks through the middle but South Africa were unable to finish it off and take the points. Burger was prominent in the breakdowns disrupting the English play and turning over ball which was crucial to the South African cause. Victor Matfield was an inspirational second rower who did not stop tackling, pushing in mauls and being in the space when needed. He showed the reason why he was chosen as Man of the Match.

Very rarely did the ball make it out to the winger Brian Habana and when the moments did come they were foiled either by a big tackle or by the ball falling through his hands. This was a traditional hard-fought match - one for the purists of the game - and although I'm sure some will say it was boring it was one of the hardest battles in this World Cup. With tactical kicking, rucking and mauling the South Africans battled through the field to come within inches of the tryline but the tireless defence of the English came through and denied them the seven points, although South Africa secured three through Percy Montgomery's boot. Defence and kicking dominated this game with Montgomery kicking all but three of the Springboks' points and always the cool customer under the high balls.

For me there were several players who deserve a mention. Os du Randt, the cornerstone of South African rugby, put in a massive effort completing the 80 minutes, the quiet achiever of the team going about his job and always in position to prop up a fellow player or putting in the big hits when needed. Fourie Du Preez, who for me is one of the standout players of this tournament. He has consistently turned up in each match, directing the South African team like a general at the back of the pack, knowing when to run it when to hold it tight, when to pass it - he is a class act.

South Africa join Australia as the team who have won the World Cup twice, once in 1995 when they beat my team in the final in Johannesburg and now 12 years later led by their inspirational captain John Smit. He led from the front and strategically guided his team to this win. Aside from the near England try South Africa never really looked rattled and their defence was outstanding. Congratulations to the whole South African squad and their supporters.

Congratulations to England, although you came up slightly short in the final you can hold your heads high. Having won the cup in 2003 the English had terrible form coming into this World Cup and proved all their critics wrong by standing out there last night as the defending champions of the World Cup in the final again in 2007. You should be proud.

I've really enjoyed writing this blog and I hope you've all enjoyed reading it. This World Cup has been fantastic, the French here embraced me as their own and I have been really fortunate to be here for the last eight weeks. It's been a roller coaster of emotions, teams with so much promise who under-delivered, teams fighting beyond their weight, and new heroes of World rugby emerging at this World Cup. A big thank you to everyone who has made the trip so amazing there are too many of you to name but I am sincerely grateful to each and everyone one of you. See you in 2011. Jonah

LIKES: It was fantastic to see three Presidents standing side by side to celebrate what is the greatest game on this earth.

MY STANDOUT TEAM: Argentina - they were fantastic and bought so much passion and life to this World Cup and coming third in the competition was a great end to their campaign.

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t marshall.I think it is a tragedy that you have a btinternet email address. you obviously have little understanding of the game or are you an All Black supporter still in denial. I am English to the bone. I have just returned from a trip to South Afrika and had many interesting conversations with real rugby supporters who understand the game. The best team in the tournament won. South Afrika. The English did a fantastic job. They crossed the try line and lost to a 50:50 decision that any English fan would have been gutted to have seen given had in been the Boks try. We beat the French and the Aussies. We gave a great fight to the Boks and I am sure that there victory felt hard won. Please tell me that you are not English. I do believe that there is a new email service called chokers.com especially for winging and bitter kiwis. Finally, well done to the Puma,s, it shows the game is growing in other countries. I hope to see a Quad Nation southern hemisphere tournament or a 7 nations. They would be a worthy addition to either. Jonah, well done on your coverage of the RWC2007. Knowledge of the game allows you to give an unbiased and realistic view of the tournament. Please tell some bloggers that it is possible to be a patriot of your country while being gracefull in defeat. Finally, Mr Jake White I am hopefull that you will come and give England the benefit of your skills as part of our future coaching team. The day that the South African government force 50% of the soccer team to be white will be a day when they can (possibly) argue for a race balance in the rugby team. The English give places on merit, the South Afrikan government need to ask some questions closer to the grass roots of their imploding society first.
From dkellyjakarta on Sun Oct 28 01:49PM
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This board currently only shows comments 1 to 10 on the first page, followed by comment number 31 on the second page - what happened to the other 20 ?????
From unclehector2000 on Tue Oct 30 04:57PM
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South Africa are deserved World Champions and congratulations to them but they were no better than England in the final. It could have gone England's way but for some dubious refereeing decisions.
From peterlound2001 on Thu Nov 01 12:27AM
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