WORLD CHAMPS CHAMPS CHAMPS!!!
Springboks showed the world that with proper coaching they are the top dogs, this victory is all about Rassie bringing a team which hit the rock bottom (for their standard) up to where they belong with a simple yet effective tactic: impenetrable, aggressive defense, box kicks, pressure on the opposing side and taking advantage thanks to their world's best scrum.
I don't know if without Sinckler things would have changed a lot for England, but Dan Cole will have nightmares of Mtawarira forever, he got literally crucified over and over by "The Beast".
I thought that during this WC the Bokke hid themselves a bit, not playing with full effort except against NZ, especially in those first 20 minutes, but the ABs try changed everything back then.
When both Mbonambi and De Jager went down in the same phase, SA got arguably better, which says a lot about the depth of their bench: Marx has to be the best hooker in the world, while Mostert is basically on par with De Jager (but a little less effective on the tackling). To think that the "second unit" of SA' scrum is even better than the first, put things in perspective.
I would say that the difference at 9-10 was quite noticeable, with Youngs constantly harrassed by Faf, forcing him to do glaring mistakes. To tell the truth, Faf has looked fantastic when defending and tackling but less so when attacking (his box kicks were sometimes KAK lol)
The general opinion is that South Africa dominated and England had never really a chance, but I disagree. See the NZ game...
A little before the 30th minute England was VERY close to score a try while the score was still only 6-3 SA, a try in that moment would have changed everything IMO.
It started after the touche, with Underhill cutting inside the Bokke line then with Tuilagi breaking off a tackle by Mostert. With the English side advancing inch by inch, there were AT LEAST three key tackles which saved the Bokke, without those we might talk about a whole different outcome: at the three metres first Underhill and then (after a couple of phases), Billy Vunipola rushed in and both times Vermeulen alone blocked them (with Vunipola, "Thor" managed to throw him back while hanging him from the side); after that Cole gets the ball behind the pile and goes around it on the blind side with the support of I think Mako Vunipola and Etzebeth all alone somehow manages to tackle him with the ball literally inches from the try line (I think I lost a couple of years of my life during these two phases!), then ANOTHER chance for England as Mako gets the ball but Kolisi and Malherbe perfect tackling sent him back. Unable to crush the rugged defense of the Springboks, England tried to go on the wing but Willie Le Roux, who had a bad tournament up until the final, tackled Watson first and Farrell right after, ending England's hopes for a try. All in all an outstanding display of defense and superb tackling, things in which the Bokke are the best in the world and they showed, but England was extremely close to take the lead and change the face of the game.
From there the score remained close for 25 more minutes but England never managed to feel dangerous due to the asfissiating Bokke's defense. Still, Farrell had a chance on a penalty kick to bring England within two points but he missed it and basically that was it for England.
After South Africa won the "war of attrition" with its trademark defense and its scrum, the rest was rugby academy with the beautiful Mapimpi's try (appreciate the quick hands of Marx passing the ball to Mapimpi before his perfect kick to Am) and Kolbe showing his speed and tackle-breaking skills on a dead-tired Farrell after a tackle by Marx provoked a turnover.
Vermeulen was basically perfect, he saved the Bokke on that England's attack, attacked well, received without mistakes... The Springboks will miss him when he'll call it quits. Du Toit was the most aggressive on defense and threw some scary tackles, he later won the Player of the Year award which says everything about his impact on the year of the Bokke. As for player of the tournament I would mention also De Allende: whenever mattered he was ALWAYS doing the right thing, rock solid on defense and very effective when attacking.
When Kolisi, the first black captain of the Springbok, lifted the Webb Ellis Cup, somewhere in the sky Nelson Mandela must have smiled.
