England through to Final
Just as I had hoped, England beat their old enemy France 14-9 last night to reach the Rugby World Cup Final! It was a dogfight of epic proportions with both teams scrapping for every ball and each inch of territory. Les Bleus were leading 9-8 with seven minutes to go when French hearts were broken by a Jonny Wilkinson penalty after fullback Jason Robinson was felled by a high tackle, then crushed afterfoot minutes later when the flyhalf’s high, looping drop-kick sailed between the uprights. Wilkinson’s kicking has been erratic by his standards in this tournament but he has scored the ones that have mattered. Now the Boks just need to beat Argentina tonight to set up my dream final. Who would have thought it possible after England was humiliated 36-0 by South Africa in the round robin stages? Since then England have steadily improved with each game, especially in defence. A lot of this is down to Wilkinson, who returned to the side after the match against South Africa. Mike Catt deputised for him in that game but has always looked better to me at inside centre. That is where he played last night, earning the man-of-the-match award for his efforts. England’s general backline play has also improved but the Boks are still better than them in this department. I think that this will give South Africa the edge, assuming that they beat Argentina. Go Bokke!
