Coach Eddie Jones had no explanation for England’s failure to mount any real threat in their 32-12 World Cup final defeat by South Africa on Saturday.
If it was not the sort of in-depth insight expected from one of the most experienced coaches in the game, it was probably shared by England fans left bewildered by how a team who destroyed New Zealand could find themselves on the wrong side of a similar demolition job seven days later.
Having been the losing coach in the 2003 final, when England beat Australia, Jones says: “I don’t know why we didn’t play well, it’s something that happens in higher level rugby.
DEFLATED: Pom Own Farrell. Picture: Peter Cziborra/Reuters.
“We thought our preparation was good but this happens sometimes and it isn’t a good day for it to happen.
“You can have the most investigative debrief of your game but they were too good for us on the day.
“We got in trouble in the scrum, we struggled in the first half, made some personnel changes in the second half and got back into it.
“We stayed in the fight and were in with a chance, but for some reason South Africa were too strong for us.
Thank you Japan, you have been incredible hosts.
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We are devastated by the result but the support has been amazing. pic.twitter.com/pWUD99aFsX
“You can’t doubt the effort of the players, they were extraordinary, they played with a lot of pride and passion and I don’t know why we were caught short. Sometimes you never know.
“We didn’t meet our goal of being best team in the world, but we are the second best team in the world and that is how we should be remembered.”