Johnno on... World Cup final heartache

Hello everyone. Obviously I've just seen England lose the final to South Africa. I'm so disappointed for all the players as they had a chance to do it.

We gave South Africa the first six points and we couldn't afford to do that. If you take two of those out of the ball-game, we're right in there. At 9-6 we still could have gone on to win, but then we concede again so it's 12-6. But that penalty award to make it 15-6 was very iffy. That was a killer one for us. Once they got to nine points ahead, they could sit back and defend and kick the ball into touch because their line-out was never under pressure. But I thought we had just about enough territory and possession to make it a bit more difficult for them.

The big talking point was the Mark Cueto try. I've only watched it on a monitor 15 yards away, but his left foot did look like it touched the line. But anyway, he's not given it - you can't keep harping on about it. I thought the far worse decision was that penalty at 12-6 - that was a huge sway in the game.

South Africa have now won two World Cup finals without scoring a try. We got to the final by only scoring twice in the knockout stage. Games aren't always won by tries. You saw today it was won by a team with a very good kicking game, lineout and defence. It's very difficult to break these sides down. We defended pretty well for most of the game and they didn't make many breaks.

You've got to very proud of what that team has achieved, but we had a genuine chance to win it. All the players were genuinely disappointed - they weren't happy to just have played in a close final.

Looking forward, the RFU need to put in place the right coaching team to make sure we get the most out of our team. The good thing about this tournament is that we've got some guys like Toby Flood, Dan Hipkiss and Matthew Tait who have now had the experience of playing in the biggest game in the world. Some guys are at the end of their careers and there will obviously be a big transition.

But remember, we were 10 points shy of winning the World Cup - just imagine what it might have been like if we had got it right the last three or four years...

Comments

[bigboy]

No coaching experance, no flair, no personality = NO CHANCE FOR ENGLAND

[Big Rog]

I said that I'd be proud of the England team whether they won or lost and that's still true. They came within a hair's breadth of the ultimate upset AND making a few bookies sell off a Rolls Royce or two. If the try decision had gone with us then the whole balance of the match would have changed and with it, I believe, the result.
One thing I was disappointed with was the tactic of not challenging at the South African lineout. I realise that they have a great line out but allowing them to jump unchallenged simply reinforced their sense of superiority. Otherwise the only worrying aspect was that no matter which South African kicked the ball, they seemed to be able to return our kicks with interest and they always seemed to be able to kick into space. England spent a lot of money on their high tech shirts to make them harder to grab, do they need high tech boots to give a longer range?
Good luck to the Saffers & well played, but remember the cup is only on loan. The competition gave Brian Ashton something that neither he nor Andy Robinson had been able to get before. Time. In a few weeks Ashton has turned the no hopers into real contenders. However it seems as if the clubs have finally got the message and are set to agree to better access for the national coach, with this we can start to hit new heights.
And now, the plea. This is to the players and coaching staff. Please don't have a wholesale clearout of players. Keep enough old hands around to allow the new guys to become old hands. We have some brilliant young players but if they are knocked about too much over the next three years then we'll be back in the same position we were in in 2006. Trying to claw our way back to respectability. Change is needed but it must to be managed carefully. I want to be cheering on the Champions in 2011, please don't throw away what you've achieved. You have the foundations so BUILD.

[Rita-Marie Lawlor]

It wasn't the most exciting game of rugby - in terms of a final - compared to the last one there was no real 'edge of seat' stuff and to be honest Mark Cueto's try looked legal. I know you said in the ITV studio that the ref made the right decision but it was a shame but congrats to the Boks. Both teams deserved to win this - England deserved it in the case of scoring nothing against SA to being in a final!. SA deserved it because they hadn't lost a match at all - so it was a two way thing with me. (I've an English and a South African friend and was texting them both very different texts last night!)

I really really felt it for you - but I hope you feel a bit better.

Thank you for all your very interesting blogs on here and I've enjoyed reading them all.
Here's to the Six Nations!. x