Montgomery kicks South Africa to World Cup triumph
Posted by Hamish McBrearty on October 21st, 2007
In a titanic struggle fitting of the World Cup final it was South Africa who made the most of their chances to claim their second World Cup title with a 15-6 win over England at Stad de France.
Just like the 1995 World Cup final, no tries were scored and the match was close throughout, but also like in 1995 a mere 15 points proved enough.
Defending champions England got off to a poor start and, despite showing some enterprise on attack, were unable to find away through the Springboks defence. The hero of the 2003 final, Jonny Wilkinson, kept England in the game with his tactical kicking but got few chances to score points, missing two low percentage drop goals.
The South African forward pack showed little regard for their bodies, throwing themselves into every breakdown with reckless abandon in an attempt to win the battle up front, which many thought would decide the game. But it was the desperate Springbok defence which made the difference by bending without breaking on many occasions.
The first half scoring was opened by South Africa from the boot of Percy Montgomery after just seven minutes, but England replied quickly with a Wilkinson penalty goal. When Montgomery restored the Springboks’ lead in the 16th minute England were unable to answer, Wilkinson missing a snap drop goal.
The best attacking chance of the first half went to South Africa when No. 8 Darnie Rossouw drove the ball from the base of an attacking scrum, but was stopped centimetres short of the line. However the attack did lead to another Montgomery penalty goal and saw the Springboks head into the break with a 9-3 lead.
The turning point in the match came early in the second half when England centre Matthew Tait broke the line with a stunning run and set up winger Matthew Cueto for what looked like the opening try of the game. After a long deliberation TV match official Stuart Dickinson ruled that Cueto’s foot had just brushed the touch line moments before he grounded the ball.
The kicking duel continued between Wilkinson and Montgomery, first Wilkinson narrowing the gap, then Montgomery restoring the six point lead. With 18 minutes to play England were penalised, rather harshly, for obstruction and youngster Francois Steyn stepped up to kick a long range penalty goal.
Stuck by a number of injuries, one seeing reserve half-back Peter Richards playing at loose forward, England spent the last quarter of the game desperately attacking but could not break the green wall in front of them and when Alain Rolland blew the final whistle Stad de France erupted with the cheers of jubilant South Africans.
In the end it was the Springboks who deserved to win the game on the strength of their defence and their execution of the game plan. South Africa now join Australia as the only two nations ever to have won two World Cups, while England came desperately close to winning a consecutive title.
Congratulations to South Africa, 2007 Rugby World Cup champions.
Similar Posts:
- Wilkinson once again the hero as England dump hosts out of World Cup
- Could Los Pumas derail White’s dream of another Springbok World Cup triumph?
- The contenders’ keys to victory: South Africa
- England need vast improvement if they are to challenge Habana and the Boks
- Adaptablity and nous the keys to Springboks’ triumph
The Montgomery kicks South Africa to World Cup triumph by Hamish McBrearty, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
