Well played to the England rugby team.

Written off by everyone, including myself, they put in an excellent performance and very nearly sent the much heralded South Africa team out of the tournament.

Some of the players I thought should be dropped, like Owen Farrell, were superb. England was on top for sixty minutes and the panicked faces on the SA bench told a story of a team that thought it was heading home.

Ultimately, the quality of the Boks substitutes is what turned a nine point deficit into a one point win. Congrats to South Africa for making the final and they are a good team. Also congrats to Borthwick and the England boys for putting in a game like that.

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OliRos · 18-21, F

South Africa destroyed the England scrum in the final 15 minutes. Sinkler was out of his depth, destroyed.

They had an easy passage to the semi and lost to the first serious side they met.

Don't fall into the trap of thinking that they were heroic.

Burnley123 · 41-45, M

@OliRos Everyone here knows that it is not a strong England team. I myself have called out the draw for being ridiculous and one sided. This has been especially harsh on Ireland and France, for obvious reasons.

England did beat Argentina and Fiji who are both decent. Argentina knocked out Wakes and Fiji knocked out Australia. Both the latter were seen as a similar level to England coming in.

Of course, SA, NZ, France and Ireland are a level above anyone else. Nobody has said otherwise.

SunshineGirl · 36-40, F

@OliRos At the start of the tournament it was widely predicted that England would struggle to move out of their group. They were seeded together with Argentina and Japan because of their performances at the last WC and their rankings over a longer period of time. Ireland's form, which made their group seem particularly tough, was more recent. You can only play what is put in front of you and England passed most of the tests with merit (particularly against Argentina where they played nearly the whole game with 14 men).