England coach Steve Borthwick is adamant his side will use the pain of their narrow Rugby World Cup semi-final defeat to South Africa to “grow into something brilliant” moving forward.
Heading into the clash as heavy underdogs, England executed their kick-heavy gameplan to perfection and impressed at the set-piece to stunningly lead the Springboks at half-time. However, South Africa’s much-vaunted ‘bomb squad’ came off the bench, started to dominate the scrum and the kicking of Handre Pollard led them to a gutsy 16-15 win.
Borthwick’s troops far outperformed expectations in the semi-final and although he was devastated to come up just short on the big stage, the coach is convinced the experience will stand his young squad in great stead for the future.
“The whole team performance was strong,” said Borthwick in his post-match press conference. “We’re disappointed. We came here with a plan to win the game but fell short. Not far but a little bit short and we’re desperately disappointed.
“But the players should be incredibly proud. We had seven players 25 or under in our squad, which was the most of any semi-finalist. South Africa had one.
“We have a great blend in the squad and there’s lots to take going forward. We put ourselves in a position to win a semi-final against the reigning world champs and world No 1.
“In adversity, there is normally a seed in there that will grow into something brilliant. It’s too early to find that seed now but we’ll make sure we find it. We’ll take what we’ve gone through tonight, grab it and make sure it makes us stronger in the future.”
England were narrowly defeated in Paris— (Getty Images)
Lock George Martin was a surprise selection ahead of Ollie Chessum but he shone in just his fourth Test start, with his maul defence a particular highlight.
And Borthwick is convinced Martin has a bright future, while also highlighting the superior cohesion that the Springboks have after a longer period together as a coaching staff.
“I thought he [Martin] played really well,” added Borthwick. “There were a good number of outstanding performances out there. George is another young player, only 22. I would hope to see him in England shirt for many years to come.
“We were playing against a team with coaches together since 2018. It was an incredible achievement for them to win in 2019 and they have had four years of continued development.
“They’re consistent whereas we’ve had four months with this coaching team. I’ve asked the players to approach training and the game in a different way; for the players to be willing to change is all credit to them. Tonight was another example of that.”
