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A night of heartbreaks as rugby defeat piles on the misery for English sports
England suffered two heartbreaking defeats to South Africa on Saturday, the first one at the Cricket World Cup in India and the second one at the Rugby World Cup in France
England's Freddie Steward challenges for the ball with South Africa's Handre Pollard. — AP
It was a black Saturday for English sport as they suffered defeat in both the Cricket World Cup in India and the Rugby World Cup in France.
Shortly after Jos Butler’s world champions were dealt a humbling 229-run defeat in cricket’s premier 50-over tournament, England's Rugby World Cup dream ended in a heartbreaking 16-15 semi-final defeat at Stade de France.
Both defeats were administered by South African squads full of intent and determination.
Stand-in captain Aiden Markram’s team handed England a record defeat by runs in the ODI game in Mumbai to leave the defending champions hoping for a miracle to stay alive in the ten-team tournament.
If that scenario broke English hearts then the loss in Paris was even harder to digest.
England looked on the verge of defeating the defending champions on a rainy Paris night when they earned a 15-6 lead only to allow the Springboks back into the game in the closing stages of a bruising 70-minute contest.
Handre Pollard’s late kick gave the Springboks what looked like an improbable 16-15 victory to set up the final against fellow triple champions New Zealand.
“It’s unbelievable, the fight we showed never giving up, it is what we stand for as a team and as a nation,” said Pollard.
England led for the entire match before Pollard's boot — from about 50 meters — swung the Springboks into a second straight Rugby World Cup final at the very death and cruelly denied the English again.
“After a difficult loss like this all that stands with me is how proud I am to be English,” said England captain Owen Farrell, who also lost in the 2019 final to South Africa.
“You can always look back at things but South Africa is a top, top side. They have shown that over the course of the World Cup.”
England fans, who came to France this time with very limited expectations given the team's dire pre-tournament form, belted out "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot."
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