Steve Borthwick vowed to use England’s heartbreaking World Cup semi-final exit at the hands of South Africa to sow a seed for future success.
Borthwick’s unfancied side led by nine points in the final quarter and were on the cusp of a famous win until Handre Pollard’s late penalty condemned them to an agonising 16-15 defeat.
Many of England’s players collapsed to their knees following a colossal, but ultimately unsuccessful, effort against the reigning champions on a sodden evening in Paris.
While head coach Borthwick was similarly crestfallen by the dramatic late twist at Stade de France, he was proud of the efforts of his team and upbeat about what lies ahead.
“We came here with a plan to win the game and we fell a little bit short, not far short but a little bit short, so we’re desperately disappointed,” he said.
“I think we all truly believed we could do it, we were going to do it, and we came very close to doing so.
“In adversity, in these tough times, there’s usually some seed of it there that will grow and be something brilliant in the future.
“Right now it’s too early for me to find that seed but we’ll make sure we find it.
“We’ll make sure that we take some of what we find tonight, some of what we’ve gone through tonight, we’ll make sure we grab that and we’ll make sure it makes us stronger in the future.”
Captain Owen Farrell produced an outstanding performance, kicking all of his side’s points, including a superb drop goal.
His efforts looked to be sufficient for victory but RG Snyman barged over for the only try of the match in the 70th minute to set up a grandstand finish.
Man-of-the-match Pollard, who booted the Springboks to victory over England in the 2019 final, nailed the tricky conversion and then landed a monster penalty two minutes from time to inflict more anguish on the opposition.
“The players should be incredibly proud of what they’ve done and continue to do as they represent England rugby,” continued Borthwick.
“I know I’ll have at home a couple of young boys who are going to be bitterly disappointed and I’m sure there are lots of people that are proud but also gutted back in England, I’m sure there are millions of people like that.
“I care about these players, I care about these supporters, and I care about English rugby.
“What I see is a group of guys who are doing as much as they possibly can to set an example, to build a team, to have supporters proud of them.
“They’re led by this man next to me (Farrell), who I think has been and continues to be a phenomenal player and an incredible leader of this team.”
New Zealand await South Africa in next weekend’s final.
Springboks head coach Jacques Nienaber praised his team’s fighting spirit.
“I pay a lot of credit to England,” he said. “They were outstanding on the night.
“They had a very good tactical plan and they put us under pressure. We will have to improve because it took us some time to get to grips with it.
“But the strength of this team is that even if we’re not playing well we find a way to get the result.
“It took 80 minutes to get a foothold in the game. The team refused to give up and fought until the end.”
Springboks captain Siya Kolisi was convinced fly-half Pollard, who came on for Manie Libbok with only half an hour gone, would land the decisive penalty from just inside England’s half.
“I had no doubt at all,” he said. “He’s done it for us before.
“England are a world-class team and completely different to a year ago. They had an amazing game plan which we took too long to adapt to.
“These things happen but we dug deep to get the victory. Other teams wouldn’t be able to get the win from this. I’m not going to say it was ugly, we did what was needed.”
Ireland frustrated by lack of discipline as home winning run ended
Ireland captain Caelan Doris believes they were "not good enough" as they suffered a first home defeat in more than three years against New Zealand.
The All Blacks ran out 23-13 winners in Dublin thanks to Damian McKenzie, while Ireland's discipline cost them late on after they had made a bright start to the second half.
McKenzie scored three of his six penalties before the break to give New Zealand a 9-6 lead, but the visitors started the second half a man light after Jordie Barrett's yellow card for a high tackle.
Josh van der Flier scored a try for the hosts, but McKenzie soon added another three penalties before Will Jordan's try secured New Zealand a first win on Irish soil since 2016.
And Doris pointed to Ireland's discipline as the turning point late on in the game.
"It was intense out there. We were quite reactive out there and our discipline wasn't where it needed to be," he told TNT Sports.
"We got momentum at the start of the second half, but they came back. They were quality, we weren't good enough.
"Discipline was a big part. We didn't fire enough shots and part of that was our defence letting them hold onto the ball. I'm not sure exactly what the answers are, but we weren't good enough tonight."
Ireland were seeking a 20th home win in a row, but New Zealand ensured their impressive run came to a halt on Friday.
It is now five wins on the bounce for New Zealand in all competitions, having followed up their dramatic win over England last weekend.
Head coach Scott Robertson was impressed with what he saw from the All Blacks, both individually and as a team.
"It was a hell of a match, we defended extremely well, and it's really pleasing with all the work we have been doing," he said to TNT Sports.
"Discipline and self-control is an area you have to own it, and I think a lot of individuals did."
On Damian McKenzie, he added: "He is so mercurial, and sometimes he doesn't get it right, but when he does! He got enough right tonight, and I'm really pleased with how he controlled the game and kept calm."
“We have capable replacements”- Powell encourages bowlers to step up and be counted in Alzarri Joseph’s absence for first two England T20Is
West Indies T20 captain Rovman Powell called the unavailability of pacer Alzarri Joseph a big loss on the eve of the first of five T20 Internationals against England at the Kensington Oval in Barbados.
Joseph was suspended by Cricket West Indies for two games after abruptly leaving the field during the series-deciding third ODI between the West Indies and England at the same venue on Wednesday which the hosts won by eight wickets to claim a 2-1 series win.
“It’s a definite loss for us,” Powell said in a pre-match press conference on Friday.
“He’s the spearhead of our attack and one of our more experienced bowlers but, having said that, we have capable replacements. When you look on the bench strength, I think guys that are waiting in the wings are good also. It’s an opportunity for somebody to step up and be counted,” he added.
The West Indian T20 side are coming off a disappointing series loss to Sri Lanka and will be looking to bounce back against opponents they have become very familiar with over the years, especially on their home turf.
“Every time England comes to the Caribbean it’s a big rivalry. England is one of the best teams in the world so it definitely brings out the best in us from a T20 perspective,” Powell said.
“I think we’ve been playing some good T20 cricket so this series provides an opportunity for us to continue to do that,” he added.
Another added thought in the mind of players in the format this time of year is the looming IPL player auction.
With the amount of cricket played throughout the year, however, Powell doesn’t see how anyone’s performance in these five games will determine whether or not they are picked up during the auction on November 24 and 25.
Instead, Powell wants his team to focus on the task at hand.
“A lot of scouting has already been done. I don’t think five games would actually change the decisions of where IPL teams will go. It’s just for us from an individual standpoint to focus on what we can contribute to our team and leave the rest to whatever,” he said.
With the ODI team just winning their series, Powell was asked about whether or not there is pressure for the T20 side to do the same.
“There is always pressure, especially playing at home against such a good opponent,” he said.
“Fortunately for us as a T20 team, we’ve been managing that pressure pretty well, so far,” he added.
The first T20I bowls off tomorrow at 3:00pm JA time/4:00pm ECT.
Samson century sets India on way to comfortable T20I win over South Africa
Sanju Samson's century and a strong bowling display set India on their way to a 61-run victory over South Africa at Kingsmead on Friday.
The teams met for the first time since the T20 World Cup final, with India once again coming out on top to take a 1-0 lead in the four-match T20I series.
Samson started strongly, plundering 107 in a knock which included 10 sixes, and held firm to get his second consecutive T20I century, even as Abhishek Sharma (7) and Suryakumar Yadav (21) were both taken early.
Tilak Yarma added 33, but Gerald Coetzee (3-37) helped to ensure India's momentum faltered, though the tourists still set a tough target, finishing on 202-8.
Any hopes of a quick start for South Africa crumbled though as Aiden Markram (8) fell inside the first over.
Varun Chakaravarthy (3-25) and Ravi Bishnoi (3-28) impressively stopped any rhythm from building, with the latter stopping South Africa's top-scorer Heinrich Klaasen on 25 as the hosts stumbled to all out for 141 in the 18th over.
Data Debrief: No home comforts
South Africa will have been looking to avenge their World Cup final loss, but their struggles on home soil continued in Durban.
They have lost their last five men's T20Is at Kingsmead, including their last four. Meanwhile, India are undefeated in their five matches at Kingsmead (W4 T1).
In fact, South Africa have lost 17 of their last 20 men's T20Is in South Africa, with India responsible for their last two such losses. They had only lost once in nine matches prior to this span (W7 T1).
The damage was done early on by Samson, whose hundred is the fastest by an Indian in T20Is against South Africa.
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