Reflections on a bad night

As the only Ruster to predict a South African victory, I was given the gig of the match report. You have seen the game on TV, read reports in the media – social or conventional press – so there is not match more to add.

I will therefore give my impressions on being there and my theory of why the same team performs so well against the All Blacks but does not turn up in the final a week later.

I was unimpressed by the Yokahama Stadium. There is no area to drop off and to be collected thus making your way through the boozers to the entrance and trying to effect a speedy and efficient egress is not easy. The aisles within the stadium are too narrow, basically single each way, and often blocked by the vendors of beer with backpacks. The toilets are inadequate and outside them a long queue. There were no outlets for merchandising. The seats were hard and too narrow.

The face value of our ticket was £500 and some of the New Zealanders in our group sold theirs profitably. They are a decent bunch so I acquired a couple for a friend and his son from one of our group at face value.

The atmosphere is less hostile than in soccer, but less passionate too ,with basically one chant “Swing low, sweet chariot ”. The drinking is industrial and the whole experience male-orientated. Personally I don’t get the equation of a sporting occasion = massive drinking, especially when you are going to miss parts of the game in the queue for the toilet.

The great asset is you can say “I was there for the 2019 Final.”

When England loses it’s less of an attraction.

We left before the end to avoid the traffic but our coach got caught up in in so it was more than an hour after the end that we boarded the bus. The Kiwis were none too bothered by the result. They favoured England and because they played the better rugby in the tournament but I suspect deep down they would have liked to say they have lost out to the winners.

As to the second part of failing to turn up, I maintain my theory based on watching sport for 50 years, namely that it emulates life.

You look forward to a social event with keen anticipation but at it you do not enjoy yourself as much as you think you would.

You wake up in the morning, fuzzy after that one glass of wine too many, it’s raining, money you expected has not arrived, you remember a dear friend or family member that is no longer with you, there is an unpleasant email, the news on Brexit is getting boring and other reports depressing on the world today etc etc.

Thus however well-prepared Ben Youngs is, for example, he cannot pass accurately for whatever reason, it gnaws at his self-confidence, South Africa get an early chance, Kyle Sinkler knocks himself out against Itoje – none of this was planned.

The South Africa behemoths are pushing the English scrum around and laying their bodies on the line, it’s not going to plan and you are playing catch up.

Wayne Smith thinks you can alter this or indeed the coach has not prepared properly. Who am I to disagree ?

But I will. Once over the white line how much can a coach do?

England need to ignite,a crashing run from Billy Vunipola making the crowd roar, a jinking slalom from Jonny May or Henry Slade, the Kamikaze twins breaking down a South African attack with a ferocious hit, that one piece of inspiration never came.

In football this is where the great players make a difference. It’s not going Barcelona’s way,they are a goal down and suddenly Lionel Messi is dribbling into the box and scores. The opposition gets demoralised.

Messi does it again.

I saw no one in the England team that could reverse the losing trend. So may be they are over-coached.

I met a politician once who said that for Question Time the Conservatives intensively prepare their representative but along comes a Liberal with a casual, natural easy going persona that makes the better impression. Such a game changer needs to be similarly innovative and can be the captain but Owen Farrell, for all his prowess, is Eddie Jones’ spokesman on the pitch and presumably would not change the game plan.

Yet when I get back eventually onto the bus, and speak to Wayne he has seen so much more in the game than I, e.g. the loss of Sinckler, not just as a scrummager, but a ball carrier.

It’s that conundrum of “once -over -the white-line” that makes sport so fascinating as the reality is there is no clear methodology.