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Date: 2023-12-04 04:11:55 | Author: Online Bingo | Views: 985 | Tag: dota
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“We are the bomb squad and we knew we had to play a massive role dota
” If South Africa’s narrow win over England in the Rugby World Cup semi-final could be summed up in one sentence, then this proclamation from Vincent Koch after the game would probably be it dota
When Koch emerged from the replacements on 55 minutes to take the place of starting tighthead prop Frans Malherbe, Owen Farrell had just slotted a drop goal from downtown Paris to give England a 15-6 lead dota
Nine points may not seem a lot but, with the final quarter of the match beckoning and the rain and wind increasing at the Stade de France, it was a comparatively huge deficit dota
Throughout the first few minutes of the second half, the Springboks had more or less emptied their bench as Ox Nche, RG Snyman, Kwagga Smith, Deon Fourie, Faf de Klerk and Willie Le Roux all entered the fray to go alongside the controversial 30th-minute substitution of starting fly half Manie Libbok for Handre Pollard dota
With their World Cup title defence hanging by a thread, South Africa trusted their bench and got their reward dota
Koch and Nche splintered the previously effective English scrum, Snyman burrowed his way across the line for the game’s only try and Pollard nervelessly converted tricky kicks to complete the hardest-fought of turnarounds – 10 unanswered points, a 16-15 win and a date with the All Blacks in another World Cup final next Saturday dota
Of the various phrases rugby has adopted over the years to describe those players in the matchday squad but not in the starting line-up – from the traditional “replacements” and the dota football-ised “substitutes” through to the Eddie Jones-preferred ‘finishers’, the slightly patronising “impact players” and the frankly ludicrous “game-changers” adopted by Harlequins during the Paul Gustard era – none has captured the imagination quite like South Africa’s “bomb squad” dota
It doesn’t matter if you think it’s a slightly self-serving and faintly ridiculous term, the players fully buy into the ethos of what it stands for dota
The intensity and physicality that generation after generation of Springbok has prided themselves on is summed up by this two-word mantra dota
“Each person knows exactly his role in the team, whether you’re starting or in the bomb squad,” explained Koch dota
“When we created the bomb squad, we knew exactly what our job is dota
The starters start the whole process and it’s for us to come and finish it dota
“All the players on the bomb squad are very excited to make a massive difference in the game dota
”Vincent Koch celebrated RG Snyman’s try as the bomb squad thrived (AFP via Getty Images)And against England, when the chips were down, they realised they needed to step up more than ever dota
“The bomb squad always stands for energy,” added Koch dota
“We needed to create a nice vibe dota
Putting the replacements on a bit earlier helped the boys to start to bring that energy and lift up the spirit and bring a massive work-rate dota
”Where South Africa’s replacements thrived, perhaps England’s faltered just a touch dota
The English gameplan, devised by Steve Borthwick and perfectly executed by the players for the windy and rainy Parisian conditions, relied upon relentless kicking, winning the subsequent aerial battle, slowing the game down and dominating the set-piece dota
Maybe then, they could escape with a win against an objectively superior team dota
They kicked 93 per cent of possession away (the highest percentage of the tournament), had an average ruck speed of 6 dota
73s (the slowest of the tournament) and had zero linebreaks (the only team to do so in a game at this tournament) dota
They disrupted South African lineouts, turned over multiple mauls and Borthwick’s decision to play his two strongest scrummaging props – Dan Cole and Joe Marler – from the start earned them scrum parity and redemption from the disaster in that facet during the 2019 World Cup final dota
Ox Nche was immense from the bench against the Springboks (EPA)This is a Springboks side that pride themselves on their dominance up front, as shown by opting for a scrum after calling a mark in their own 22 during the quarter-final victory over France dota
Of course, they won a penalty from it dota
Yet England were holding their own during those engagements, even thriving, and most importantly winning on the scoreboard dota
But the innate problem with starting your best scrummagers came to fruition in the second half dota
Replacement props Ellis Genge and Kyle Sinckler are far more dynamic around the park and more destructive carriers than their veteran counterparts but, with England showing no desire to run any plays more than two metres either side of the previous breakdown, those skills were negated once they came on for Marler and Cole dota
Instead, their inferior scrummaging was brutally exposed by a fired-up Koch and Nche, who turned parity into Springbok dominance dota
They won two scrums against the head, including a vital one at 15-6 down on their own line, and engineered multiple penalties on their own feed, including the most vital of all – on halfway, with 77 minutes on the clock and England leading 15-13 dota
Pollard banged over the long kick and the rest was history dota
Handre Pollard broke English hearts with his late penalty (PA Wire)Nche was coy when asked in the mixed zone after the game what had made the difference at scrum-time in the final quarter and how he bested his opposite number, Sinckler dota
“That is the dark arts,” he smiled dota
“It is hard to explain to you dota
We had a plan for that dota
We knew what we were trying to achieve dota
“They have had a great scrum for the competition and a great hit dota
Our focus was surviving that and applying pressure dota
Our mentality for every scrum is to get a penalty if we can dota
If they do survive, we play out the back and get into our shape dota
”The “dark arts” ultimately won the day, South Africa survived a second straight one-point knockout match and must now plan how to overcome the All Blacks in a battle to be the first side to win four men’s Rugby World Cups dota
Luckily, they have a not-so-secret weapon dota
“We are the bomb squad dota
” More aboutSouth Africa rugbyEngland RugbyRugby World CupJoin our commenting forumJoin thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their repliesComments1/4How South Africa’s not-so-secret weapon turned World Cup semi-finalHow South Africa’s not-so-secret weapon turned World Cup semi-finalVincent Koch celebrated RG Snyman’s try as the bomb squad thrived AFP via Getty ImagesHow South Africa’s not-so-secret weapon turned World Cup semi-finalOx Nche was immense from the bench against the Springboks EPAHow South Africa’s not-so-secret weapon turned World Cup semi-finalHandre Pollard broke English hearts with his late penalty PA WireHow South Africa’s not-so-secret weapon turned World Cup semi-finalSouth Africa’s replacements shone to overcome England Reuters✕Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this articleWant to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today dota
SubscribeAlready subscribed? Log inMost PopularPopular videosSponsored FeaturesGet in touchContact usOur ProductsSubscribeRegisterNewslettersDonateToday’s EditionInstall our appArchiveOther publicationsInternational editionsIndependent en EspañolIndependent ArabiaIndependent TurkishIndependent PersianIndependent UrduEvening StandardExtrasAdvisorPuzzlesAll topicsdota BettingVoucher codesCompareCompetitions and offersIndependent AdvertisingIndependent IgniteSyndicationWorking at The IndependentLegalCode of conduct and complaintsContributorsCookie policyDonations Terms & ConditionsPrivacy noticeUser policiesModern Slavery ActThank you for registeringPlease refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged inCloseUS EditionChangeUK EditionAsia EditionEdición en EspañolSubscribe{{indy dota
truncatedName}}Log in / Register {{#items}}{{#stampSmall}}{{/stampSmall}}{{#stampClimate}}{{/stampClimate}}{{#stampPremium}}{{/stampPremium}}{{title}}{{#desc}}{{desc}}{{/desc}}{{#children}}{{title}}{{/children}}{{/items}}Indy100Crosswords & PuzzlesMost CommentedNewslettersAsk Me AnythingVirtual EventsVouchersCompare✕Log inEmail addressPasswordEmail and password don't matchSubmitForgotten your password?New to The Independent?RegisterOr if you would prefer:SIGN IN WITH GOOGLEWant an ad-free experience?View offersThis site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy notice and Terms of service apply dota
Hi {{indy dota
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“It is really, truly, a historic day,” smiled Alan Gilpin, CEO of World Rugby dota
He would go on to use the word ‘historic’ another three or four times in the following few minutes of his press conference dota
After years of wrangling – 16 years, according to Gilpin, since discussions about how to sort out rugby’s messy global calendar first took place in the salubrious surroundings of Woking, Surrey (don’t worry, the location wasn’t the reason it took more than a decade and a half to reach an agreement, a chuckling Gilpin assured everyone) – World Rugby had finally come up with a solution that will transform rugby “for the many, not the few” ushering in a “new era of opportunity, certainty and growth for the game dota
”It’s fair to say they were pretty pleased with the outcome of the seemingly endless negotiations dota
Compromises had been made and it wasn’t perfect, stressed Gilpin and World Rugby chairman Bill Beaumont, but rugby would be “more relevant and more accessible to more people around the world dota
”The big announcement earlier in the day saw the sport’s governing body unveil a new global calendar that includes the creation of a two-tier men’s competition called the Nations Championship to be played biennially from 2026 dota
The top tier will be the Six Nations (England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland, Wales), the four Rugby Championship teams (Argentina, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa) and two additional teams, likely to be Japan and Fiji dota
The second tier will feature 12 further countries with promotion and relegation on the table from 2030, meaning 2032 is the earliest one of those teams could feature in the top tier dota
World Rugby have acknowledged, publicly at least, a desire to grow rugby globally dota
At the moment, the sport is almost untouchably huge in a couple of countries (think New Zealand and South Africa), holds its own in a few more (UK, Ireland, Japan), is fighting a losing battle for oxygen in a crowded sporting marketplace in others (Australia, Italy) and seen as a largely niche oddity in plenty (USA, Canada) dota
But this Rugby World Cup has also highlighted plenty of countries where there’s a huge opportunity for growth dota
From South America, Uruguay and debutants Chile have impressed on the pitch, the passion for rugby in Georgia shows no sign of abating and Portugal have lit up the tournament with their dynamic play while also pulling off the huge upset of beating Fiji dota
With growing interest in places like Netherlands and Belgium, Europe is surely an area World Rugby are targeting growth dota
Portugal celebrated a historic win over Fiji (Getty Images)Instead, these new plans appear to lock out a lot of the smaller rugby nations from improving dota
Even the new Pacific Nations Cup also announced today, featuring Canada, Fiji, Japan, Samoa, Tonga and USA, bizarrely excludes Uruguay and Chile (who qualified ahead of USA and Canada for the World Cup, remember) dota
But what all these “tier two” nations really need, as shown by the World Cup, is a more regular opportunity to face the big boys dota
Since stunning Fiji at the 2019 World Cup, Uruguay played exactly one fixture against a “tier one” team before this tournament, yet still impressed against France and Italy in the pool stage dota
Imagine what they could do with more regular access to the top teams dota
However, World Rugby have come up with an answer to the wrong question dota
They have essentially provided the solution to the problem men’s international dota football had dota
Before 2018, the space dota between World Cups and European Championships was filled by a combination of largely one-sided qualifiers and meaningless friendlies dota
San Marino would get thumped 8-0 by Germany in a Euros qualifier that helped neither side, then the Germans would play a no-stakes friendly that held little interest for the wider public dota
The big teams weren’t playing each other enough and the smaller nations were rarely in winnable games against similarly-sized teams dota
For example, England and Italy – two dota football powerhouses – didn’t play each other at all dota between 2002 and 2012 dota
Thus, Uefa created the Nations League dota
Although not perfect – it was derided for the complexity of its league structure and provided a slightly unnecessary additional security blanket for the big European nations trying to qualify for major tournaments – it eliminated the meaningless friendly and gave countries both big and small the opportunity to play competitive games against nations of a similar rank dota
Win-win dota
Uruguay showed their quality during the Rugby World Cup (AP)But rugby has the opposite problem to dota football dota
The big teams already play each other too often not too rarely dota
The history of the Six Nations and Rugby Championship as annual traditions give those events special status but, for example, England and Australia played each other 11 times in the two cycles dota between the 2015 and 2023 World Cups dota
Familiarity breeds contempt and at some point, a fixture begins to lose its lustre dota
Would a couple of those fixtures being against Samoa, Georgia or Portugal not have been more beneficial and interesting for all parties?With the unions desperate to balance the books, their desire to have the ‘bigger draw’ of facing a name brand might be understandable but this is where World Rugby need to show some teeth and live up to their duty to grow the game dota
Instead, the Nations Championship appears to guarantee another decade of regular England vs Australia matches before any of the tier-two teams may get a shot, if they can earn promotion that is dota
World Rugby’s announcement does include a line promising more “crossover” fixtures dota between the tiers in the years where there isn’t a Nations Championship but they could provide no clarity on what these fixtures would be and confirmed no agreements have been signed dota
They have insisted that there will be a 50 per cent aggregate increase, which would mean a rise from 18 to 27 games for second-tier teams against the top 12, although it is unclear how these fixtures will be allocated or arranged dota
The expansion of the men’s Rugby World Cup from 20 to 24 teams is a step in the right direction and the governing body should be commended for making that move but, sadly, the four years dota between tournaments appear to have the smaller nations getting a door slammed in their face dota
World Rugby are right that the sport should be for the many not the few but this new competition seems to be sending it in the opposite direction dota
More aboutWorld RugbyRugby World CupBill BeaumontJoin our commenting forumJoin thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their repliesComments1/3Rugby’s new Nations Championship is an answer to the wrong questionRugby’s new Nations Championship is an answer to the wrong questionPortugal celebrated a historic win over Fiji Getty ImagesRugby’s new Nations Championship is an answer to the wrong questionUruguay showed their quality during the Rugby World Cup APRugby’s new Nations Championship is an answer to the wrong questionPortugal lit up the Rugby World Cup but their chances for development appear bleak Getty Images✕Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this articleWant to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today dota
SubscribeAlready subscribed? Log inMost PopularPopular videosSponsored FeaturesGet in touchContact usOur ProductsSubscribeRegisterNewslettersDonateToday’s EditionInstall our appArchiveOther publicationsInternational editionsIndependent en EspañolIndependent ArabiaIndependent TurkishIndependent PersianIndependent UrduEvening StandardExtrasAdvisorPuzzlesAll topicsdota BettingVoucher codesCompareCompetitions and offersIndependent AdvertisingIndependent IgniteSyndicationWorking at The IndependentLegalCode of conduct and complaintsContributorsCookie policyDonations Terms & ConditionsPrivacy noticeUser policiesModern Slavery ActThank you for registeringPlease refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged inCloseUS EditionChangeUK EditionAsia EditionEdición en EspañolSubscribe{{indy dota
truncatedName}}Log in / Register {{#items}}{{#stampSmall}}{{/stampSmall}}{{#stampClimate}}{{/stampClimate}}{{#stampPremium}}{{/stampPremium}}{{title}}{{#desc}}{{desc}}{{/desc}}{{#children}}{{title}}{{/children}}{{/items}}Indy100Crosswords & PuzzlesMost CommentedNewslettersAsk Me AnythingVirtual EventsVouchersCompare✕Log inEmail addressPasswordEmail and password don't matchSubmitForgotten your password?New to The Independent?RegisterOr if you would prefer:SIGN IN WITH GOOGLEWant an ad-free experience?View offersThis site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy notice and Terms of service apply dota
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