Wynne Gray: Slog fest unlikely to win new fans

If you wanted to convert sports fans to rugby you would never show them a replay of the slog between England and South Africa.

The players did not give a fig. Their meeting in Perth was not about grace or fancy patterns. They had just one objective - victory.



It did not matter how it happened as long as it did, because defeat created all sorts of dire consequences, such as meeting the All Blacks in a quarter-final.

It was a ferocious struggle, bodies bashing into one another relentlessly, while minds were bent and some broken under the white-hot pressure.

The Boks won their share of the battles of the brawn as they raged about Subiaco Oval, but they were unable to compete with the intellectual ice of the English.

Jonny Wilkinson was calm efficiency as every kick succeeded, while Louis Koen melted.

He missed when the Boks demanded some yield for their pugnacity and he dwelt too much on the ball in kicking from general play.

On the hour Koen's punt was charged down for Will Greenwood to score.

It repeated the message that has been hammered at the All Blacks since Wilkinson outduelled Carlos Spencer in Wellington.

Much-hyped internationals can collapse into the trench warfare seen in Perth and, often, the only route to victory is through a kicker.

Conditions were perfect and Prince Harry had flown in by helicopter to show his support for England. They won, they built steady pressure but they did not impose the sort of pattern that barked that they would win this tournament.

They made far too many mistakes, the types of error would have been unacceptable to coach Clive Woodward.

Wilkinson kicked out twice on the full from general play, Lawrence Dallaglio was penalised for not binding at the back of the scrum, passes were pushed, handling faults were too high, a five-metre scrum was conceded when the ball should have been forced.

The Springboks used a simple formula. They played with their traditional venom, they tackled with panelbeating force and attacked the breakdowns mercilessly in numbers. At times referee Peter Marshall nailed them for hands in the ruck, but Neil Back and Co were tagged for the same offence.

Scrabbling for possession on the gainline was a huge physical contest as bodies were shifted.

The Boks threatened to score and might have had they carried the ball instead of grubbering it or had wings on the tramlines instead of locks.

Their loose trio of Corne Krige, Joe van Niekerk and Juan Smith brought more athletic strike power than their England opposites who missed Richard Hill, and the absence of injured half Matt Dawson also showed.

The lack of penetration was conspicuous in the England backline; they did not look like constructing any tries except from one Wilkinson floated cutout pass.

But England won. Quality sides win tight games. That was how the Wallabies won two World Cups and how England will assess this crucial pool victory.