‘Players should be incredibly proud’: Borthwick praises England after defeat | Rugby World Cup 2023

Steve Borthwick believes England’s World Cup heartbreak can be the making of his facet after their agonising one-point semi-final defeat by South Africa. He declared his satisfaction for his gamers after pushing the defending champions so shut however believes the longer term is brilliant for his workforce regardless of their going out in devastating trend.

England produced their finest efficiency beneath Borthwick by far to steer the world No 1 facet 15-9 with 12 minutes to go. An in depth-range strive by RG Snyman and a 78th-minute penalty from Handré Pollard edged South Africa into the ultimate, nonetheless, with England overwhelmed by the Springboks for the second World Cup in a row.

South Africa’s “Bomb Squad” finally proved decisive with Kyle Sinckler and Ellis Genge freely giving two scrum penalties apiece however Borthwick insisted any particular person disappointment would be harnessed.

“In adversity, in these tough times, there’s some seed that will grow and be brilliant in the future,” the top coach mentioned. “Right now it’s too early for me to find that seed but we’ll make sure we find that, we’ll make sure that we grab that and it makes us stronger in the future.

“I think the whole team’s performance was strong. We’re disappointed. We came here with a plan to win the game and we fell short. We’re desperately disappointed. The players should be incredibly proud. I care about these players, these supporters and English rugby.

“What I see is a group of guys who are doing as much as they can to build a team to have supporters as proud of them as they possibly can. We all truly believed we could do it, we were going to do it but we fell short. As you look at the team, in that 23 there were seven players 25 or under. South Africa had one. There’s a great blend within this squad and there’ll be lots of things we can take forward. We put ourselves in a position but we came up short.”

South Africa are one match from efficiently defending their title with New Zealand awaiting in Saturday’s last. They have received each their knockout matches to this point by a single level, having edged out France 29-28 the week earlier than. The Springboks have been on the again foot for giant spells however turned to their bench with Handré Pollard approaching after 31 minutes and the substitute props Ox Nché and Vincent Koch having a big impact.

“Credit to England, they have worked hard,” mentioned the captain, Siya Kolisi. “They were written off before the World Cup. Steve Borthwick and Owen [Farrell] and the team pulled themselves together and showed who they are. They are not a team you take lightly, all credit to them for being in the semi-final. To my team as well it was ugly like it was last week but we found a way to fight back and get back into the game.”