Who would have thought the biggest obstacle to England winning the Rugby World Cup would be a lucky white shirt? Rassie Erasmus, the South Africa head coach, has revealed he favours the same matchday clothing whenever his side win and, regardless of his team’s opposition this weekend, will be wearing his now-trademark baggy, long-sleeved white shirt for the final on Saturday.
If his team go on to lift the Webb Ellis Cup it could become the most symbolic rugby garment since Nelson Mandela wore a Springbok jersey for the 1995 final. For that left-field storyline to materialise, however, his players will need to go for a slightly different look themselves. Should their selected gameplan be as sluggish and one‑dimensional as it was against Wales in the semi-final, the coach’s choice of outfit is not going to save them.
Already the Boks will be required to make history to win the trophy, which has never previously been secured by a team that has lost a pool game en route. South Africa were beaten 23-13 by New Zealand on the opening weekend of the tournament, a defeat that has suddenly taken on a fresh complexion in the wake of England’s 19-7 win against the All Blacks.
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Team guides
Pool A: Ireland, Japan, Russia, Samoa, Scotland
Pool B: Canada, Italy, Namibia, New Zealand, South Africa
Pool C: Argentina, England, France, Tonga, USA
Pool D: Australia, Fiji, Georgia, Uruguay, Wales
And yet. The power-packed Springboks are not into the final by accident and boast perhaps the only set of forwards in the tournament who will not be remotely intimidated by England’s pack. The two sides have played each other in four Tests during the past 18 months and have won two apiece. The last time they met, the Boks lost by a solitary point at Twickenham last November in a game they should have won.
As Erasmus was swift to acknowledge, England are “obviously much better now” than they were then. The flip side is that South Africa know them well and are hardly bereft of confidence themselves. When the same two countries met in the 2007 final, South Africa took a vice-like grip and refused to let go. It is not entirely impossible, with England battered and bruised from their All Black epic, that this tournament has one further twist in store.
Eddie Jones would certainly have smiled wryly had he listened to Warren Gatland after Wales’s narrow defeat. “We’ve seen in previous World Cups that sometimes teams play their final in the semi-final and don’t always turn up the following week,” said Gatland, musing on England’s capacity to back up their storming win against New Zealand. “It’ll be interesting to see England next week.” The Wales head coach may be into the final week of his tenure but old habits die hard.
Jones, in truth, would already have been thinking along similar lines. Sitting up in the stands under a white baseball cap, England’s head coach would also have been wondering if South Africa will turn up in a different guise. They are a better side than they looked here and it would not require a massive tweak to turn them back into a genuinely threatening all-court team, particularly if the brilliant Cheslin Kolbe is back fit. The back five of their scrum will not take a backward step and their scrum‑half Faf de Klerk remains the most influential No 9 in the competition.
It is still the case, nevertheless, that South Africa will have one day fewer in which to prepare. If the Boks struggle to raise their tempo it is possible England will fancy replicating what New Zealand did last month: absorb the early pressure, counterattack with purpose and hold firm for the final quarter.
More to the point they now know for certain what they are capable of achieving. The England side that reached the 2007 final were unburdened by expectation and, not helped by the hairline TMO decision that denied Mark Cueto a try in the left corner, lost 15-6 in the final in Paris. Jones’s squad, in contrast, will now run out as favourites to claim their first world title since the golden era of 2003.
It will make for a tense week in both camps. Erasmus, for one, does not buy into the theory that the trophy is already bound for Twickenham. “We think we’re in with a chance,” the Springbok coach said. “I’m not 100% sure a World Cup final is going to be won with an expansive approach with wonderful tries. I might be wrong but we will go and grind it out.” If he and his lucky white shirt prevail, England cannot say they were not warned.
