Rugby World Cup | The Fans Final

England took on the Gods of rugby New Zealand on Saturday, beating them in a fierce manner to inspire a nation, taking us to the Rugby World Cup 2019 Final.

New Zealand had not lost a World Cup game for 12 years, also having beaten England 15 of 16 past games they had played against each other. The odds were stacked in favour of New Zealand.

The match began in spectacular fashion where England formed a V formation while facing the spine-tingling Haka.

Haka image credit Instagram – Claudioindependent

England got off to a perfect start with Manu Tuilagi bundling over the line after just 93 seconds, following a few superb phases in the build-up to the try. England added to their 7 point lead with a penalty taking them into the break with a 10-0 lead. Only once in 28 years had the Kiwis not managed to score a point before half time. Pundits and players have always said over the past years that to beat the All-Blacks, you need an 80-minute performance and England for sure gave an 80-minute commanding fearless performance.

The tactical prowess from Eddie Jones really showed as England suffocated the All-Blacks for almost 80 minutes, other than the Ardie Savea try which came from an England mistake at the line-out. The try took New Zealand to within one score at 13-7, and this is where the doubt surely crept in amongst the English fans. But no, this Eddie Jones squad is different to the squad who lost to the Kiwis at Twickenham 15-16 just a year ago. This team have the temperament and the correct psychological preparation that kept England believing. It was England who registered the next points with George Ford kicking in what was a crucial, pressure relieving penalty.

New Zealand were running out of ideas, wave after wave of brutality, extraordinary pressure and thumping hits resulted in them continuously kicking possession away. England eventually running out 19-7 winners.

Image credit Instagram – @hide7hide

In what was been dubbed as one of the ‘greatest England performance of all time’, it would be unfair to pick a man of the match as every player played an integral part in this huge World Cup upset.

The win may well have inspired the nation, with ITV viewing figures reaching a whopping 10 million viewers in comparison to the group game average of 1.7 million, truly displaying the enormity of this clash.

With one match left to play, England goes in as favourites when facing South Africa on Saturday in the final. If England plays to the same calibre they did against the All-Blacks, England should register their second ever Rugby World Cup. Still to be the only northern-hemisphere team to have won the Rugby World Cup.