Join host Alex Chapman with special guests Buck Shelford and Michaela Blyde as they review the England v South Africa RWC Final and the All Blacks v Wales Bronze Final. VIDEO/Spark Sport/RWC/Mark Mitchell/AP/SNTV/Photo Sport/Getty Images/allblacks.com/TVNZ
How the world media reacted to South Africa's 32-12 win over England in the Rugby World Cup final.
England saved their worst for last as South Africa rose to the occasion... that's four years down the gurgler - by Mick Cleary of The Telegraph
"Billy Vunipola and Joe Marler stood apart from their teammates, watching and wondering. Seven days ago they had been the spearhead of the defiant England response to the haka. Now they were mere onlookers as the Springboks danced their jigs in jubilant huddles. To the victors go the show-tunes as well as the silverware. To the losers go befuddlement and desolation. England travelled along quite a spectrum in the space of a week, from certainty to doubt, from joy to despair.
"It is a journey that will stay with them throughout their careers, a spur to future improvement perhaps or as Eddie Jones put it 'kicking stones for the next four years,' a painful exercise. Perhaps a spell in sackcloth and ashes would not be amiss. Or, alternatively, a pat on the back, a reminder to self that England had achieved their best return in a World Cup for 12 years. It just didn't feel that way. This equalled the second heaviest margin of defeat in World Cup history. The mantra of taking 'learnings,' from such an experience sounded distinctly hollow as the arc lights dimmed over Yokohama's International Stadium, scene of such a public evisceration. The positives can wait for another day. England had saved their worst for last."
"In the end it felt as if it was written in the stars. Every 12 years South Africa have an unerring habit of winning World Cups and they have done so again, following up their triumphs of 1995 and 2007 with another prodigious display of power and might. In some ways this was an even more special achievement, certainly for anyone who has ever dreamed of a black Springbok captain lifting the Webb Ellis Cup.
"The Boks had a crestfallen England exactly where they wanted them long before two last-quarter tries from the wingers, Makazole Mapimpi and Cheslin Kolbe, settled a wincingly physical contest. Under massive scrum pressure and lacking the accuracy and front-foot dynamism that characterised their stunning semi-final win over New Zealand, there were only fleeting moments when England looked like emulating Martin Johnson's champions of 2003."
"Cancel the victory parade. Cancel the endorsements. Cancel the party. By the time England went up to collect their runner-up medals, most of the players could not even bring themselves to put them around their necks. The party was off. It was the mother of all anti-climaxes.
"England gripped the nation on their journey to the final, but here Eddie Jones' players were gripped by the throat and choked and suffocated. The life was squeezed out of them at the scrum as their white jerseys, which were expected to be collector's items, were covered in blood."
World Cup final heartache for Red Rose after being bullied by super Springboks - by Jonny Fordham of The Sun
"England were kicked to death in a World Cup final catastrophe.
"In a horrific performance littered by errors and a shoddy scrum, Eddie Jones' side were out-muscled by the giant South Africans who went on to lift their third crown.
"There was no revenge for 2007, when the Boks bashed up England in France to lift the Webb Ellis Cup 12-years ago.
"Instead, just more hurt and frustration.
"And when Kolbe was given space the 5ft 6ins star with petrol in his feet ate up the ground to run in from 20 metres out to complete the ultimate embarrassment."
South Africa's Siya Kolisi lifts the Webb Ellis trophy. Photo / Photosport
"Talk about power. Talk about belief. On Saturday, the Boks showcased their physical and mental steel to secure rugby's greatest prize and restore South Africa's reputation as a superpower.
"Few outside South Africa gave them a chance. The England fans – who outnumbered their South African counterparts at the ground by 10 to one – were in a bullish mood and appeared to lend their team fresh energy with every deafening rendition of 'Swing Low, Sweet Chariot'.
"The Boks, however, never appeared overawed by the occasion. They maintained their composure after Handre Pollard missed an early penalty attempt, throughout an assault on their line toward the end of the first half, and then in the latter stages when England tried to fight back."
Another Rugby World Cup triumph, another iconic moment for South Africa - by Tom Hamilton of ESPN
"They started carving South Africa's name into the Webb Ellis Cup with five minutes of the match remaining. This was as destructive a performance as you'll ever see in the sport as South Africa suffocated and out-muscled England to win their third Rugby World Cup.
"The true impact of this World Cup win for the Springboks and South Africa will only be quantifiable in time, but as Siya Kolisi lifted the Webb Ellis Cup into the Yokohama night sky, it capped one of the most remarkable sporting changes of form and fate in living memory."
"South Africa's first black captain, Siya Kolisi, has led the Springboks to World Cup glory after defeating Eddie Jones' England 32-12 in Yokohama.
"Second-half tries to wingers Makazole Mapimpi and Cheslin Kolbe and a 22-point haul to fly-half Handre Pollard sealed the Springboks' third World Cup triumph and first since they defeated England 15-6 in the final 12 years ago in Paris.
"The defeat was Jones' second World Cup final loss as a head coach, having lost in 2003 to England as Wallabies coach.
"But this was the Springboks' day.
"This was a day for South Africa to celebrate and unite."
