England: The boa constrictors of rugby

Reuters

MY BALL: England's Ben Kay snares lineout ball ahead of Sebastien Chabal as England marched into the World Cup final.

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David Kirk

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England's approach to the World Cup has made a mockery of the meticulous and detailed preparation of teams like the All Blacks and the Wallabies have undertaken.

England came into this World Cup with no settled team, virtually no world class players, poor form, no clear game plan and as far and I and most other observers were concerned, no hope.

They have shown that none of this matters if you are big and try hard.

It is not quite as simple as that but it is not far wrong.

It ain't pretty but who cares about pretty in the semifinal of the Rugby World Cup. Not England that's for sure.

They are the great squeezers of life out of their opponents and the game. The boa constrictors of world rugby.

England have a very simple and effective approach to rugby: strong set pieces, aggessive defence, kick it into the opposition half and most importantly of all, throw everything at the breakdown.

The sheer power of the English forwards at the tackle was the difference between the two teams.

The French looked the more adventurous and complete team throughout the first half.

They dominated possession and, if not for Damien Traille's howler in the first minute which allowed Josh Lewsy to score, would have turned comfortably ahead.

However, as the match wore on and the boa constrictor did his work, the French physical presence faded.

Perhaps it had something to do with the passion and desperation required to beat the All Blacks last week, but when the French team needed to dig deep and find a way to win in the final 15 minutes there was nothing there.

This England team does not have a wide range of skills but the skills they do have are some of the most important ones in rugby.

Stopping the other team playing may sound like a negative approach to rugby but it takes a lot of discipline and skill to keep doing it for 80 minutes and that is exactly what England did.

They put pressure on every clearing kick, every pass, and at every ruck.

While no doubt the French were physically exhausted by the end, they were more mentally exhausted. England gave them no space, no time and no respite from their relentless physical presence.

Every time the French tried to create something the English were there - in their space, in their face and squeezing them out of the game.

The English backs did virtually nothing on attack at all.

Jason Robinson returned a few kicks with a bit of zest but no one else seemed interested in a radical approach like running with the ball.

From set pieces the backs were used to establish the next position from which the forwards could rumble on, or from which Jonny could kick for position.

The whole notion of "total rugby", in which backs and forwards are inter-changeable as runners and passers, a style the Southern Hemisphere countries have been trying to develop, seems to be considered a nonsense.

But who cares if it was plain and uncomplicated?

England have done what they had to do. They have won two tough matches against world class opposition by sticking to what they know and doing it well.

Whether they can carry this through to a second World Cup crown remains to be seen, but for now, who can criticise England for showing those fancy fellas from down south what it takes to make a World Cup final?

Not me.

- © Fairfax NZ News