Maybe everyone is obsessing about the wrong Rugby World Cup. Of course it is tempting to fixate on the 2019 final when South Africa’s “Bomb Squad” detonated England’s hopes and dreams but in certain respects it was a spectacular one-off. Those English supporters seeking a more relevant historical precedent might just be better off casting their minds back to a sunny day in Brighton in 2015.
No one, as now, thought South Africa could possibly lose on that Saturday afternoon in September. They did not take into account Japan’s bright young forwards coach, one Steve Borthwick, who had been plotting the Springboks’ downfall for months. From the opening minute South Africa’s fans could scarcely believe their eyes. Rarely, if ever, has a supposedly underdog pack displayed such worker-ant efficiency, technical accuracy and perpetual vision.
