22 NEWS
THEWEEK2November 2019
Sport
FootballLiverpool beat
Tottenham 2-1. Chelsea beat
Burnley 4-2. Manchester
United beat Norwich 3-1 at
Carrow Road to record their
first away win in the Premier
League since February.
GolfTiger Woods won the
Zozo Championship,
equalling the PGA Tour
record of 82 tournament wins.
BoxingScottish boxer Josh
Taylor beat Regis Prograis on
points to win the World Super
Series and become the
unified IBF and WBA super-
lightweight champion.
Formula OneLewis Hamilton
won the Mexican Grand Prix.
WhentheAllBlacksperformthehakabefore
matches,theiropponentsusuallylineupshoulder
toshoulder,saidNikSimoninTheMailon
Sunday.NotEngland.OnSaturday,moments
beforethestartoftheWorldCupsemi-final,the
playersformeda“V”shape.AndwhenOwen
Farrell“steppedinfrontofthehakaandbroke
intoatwistedsmile”,itwasclearthatsomething
wasbrewing.WhatfollowedwasEngland’s
“greatest80-minuteperformanceinhistory”.
Theybeatthethree-timeworldchampions,a
teamwhohadnotlostaWorldCupgamefor
4,403days,by19-7–andifanything,the
scorelineflatteredNewZealand.
InhisthreeyearsasEngland’sheadcoach,Eddie
Joneshasspokenofwantinghisteamtobe“true
tothenationalrugbyDNA”,saidChrisFoyin
theDailyMail.Thathasmeantemphasising“set-piecestrength,
workrate,defensiveforceandall-roundaggression”.Butthis
remarkableperformancewasmorethanthe“fullEnglish”:at
times,EnglandlookedmorelikeAllBlacksthanNewZealand
did.Theyweremoreskilful,moreaccurate,moreclinical.Jones
andhiscoaches“deserveasmuchcredit”forthevictoryasthe
players,saidRobertKitsoninTheGuardian.Their“intensively
choreographed”gameplan–whichstartedwiththatresponseto
thehaka–wascarriedouttoaT.Itwastheirline-outplanthat
madethebiggestdifference,saidGavinMairsin
TheDailyTelegraph.Thatset-piecewassupposed
tobetheAllBlacks’strength–particularlyas
theyhadselectedfourjumpersfortheoccasion.
YetEnglanddominatedthroughout.Andthat
allowedtheteamtounleashTomCurryandSam
Underhill,theirfearsomeflankers,tospearhead
their“brutalassaultonthebreakdown”:England
exertedsomuchpressurethattheyforcedtheAll
Blackstoconcede 11 penalties,comparedtojust
sixoftheirown.
SeveralEnglandplayers“producedthe
performancesoftheircareers”,saidDaniel
SchofieldinTheSundayTelegraph.Curryand
UnderhillhadNewZealand“inatailspin”;
GeorgeFord,restoredatfly-half,played“with
majesty”.ButMaroItoje,the25-year-oldlock,
wasonanotherlevel.Hefound“awaytocontrolthetide,
bendingthegametohiswill”.Everycontribution–whetherit
wasoneofhis“bone-rattling”tacklesorhisdisruptionatthe
breakdown–wasdecisive.Thisperformancecouldmarkthe
“beginningofadynastyinEnglishrugby”,saidMickClearyin
TheDailyTelegraph.Whatissoexcitingaboutthevictoryisjust
howyoungthissideare:Fordis26;Underhillis23,andCurry
just21.OnlytwooftheplayerswhostartedonSaturdayarein
their30s.ThisEnglandteamhasabrightfuture.
Rugby World Cup: England pull off their greatest victory...
“Finally,Waleshave comeupshort,” saidOwen
SlotinTheTimes.Untilthe76thminute oftheir
WorldCupsemi-finalagainst SouthAfricaon
Sunday,theymanagedtostay level.Butintheend,
theywerepippedbyapenaltykick:theSpringboks
won19-16,settingup afinalagainst England.Itwas
abattle–“slow, scrappyandattritional”. Youcan
blameSouthAfricaforthat, saidMick Clearyin
TheDailyTelegraph.Theyhad asimplestrategy:
“pummel, pummel,pummel,waitforWalesto tire
andthenstrike”. Itmightnothave been pretty, but
it was effective.Thiswasn’thow Warren Gatland
wanted tobow out,saidSteve James inThe Times.
WhentheNewZealandertook overas headcoach in
20 07,Waleshadfallen toNo.10 inthe world. Yet
he quicklytransformedtheteam.Withinayear,theywonaSix
Nationsgrandslam–repeatingthefeat in2 01 2, 2013 andagain
thisyear.And now hehastakenWales furtherthananymanager
before him inaWorld Cup,despitemodestresources
andalonginjurylist. Muchashe mightruethis
missed opportunity,he remainsprobablythe greatest
internationalcoachofhisgeneration.ForAlunWyn
Jones,the talismanicWales captain, this“near-miss”
washeartbreaking,saidChrisFoyin theDailyMail.
Hisinternationalcareermightnotbe over just yet–
butat 34,he knowsthisishislast World Cup.
Without him, “Waleswouldnothavehad the era
they havejustenjoyed”.
SouthAfrica’sperformancewassurelyapreview of
how theywillapproach the finalon Saturday, said
AlasdairReidinThe Times.Itconfirmed that under
theircoach RassieErasmus,theSpringboksare
essentiallya“blunt instrument”.He hasreturnedthem to“the
gameofthe highveld”:brutal,basic and effective. Intheprocess,
hehas“restoredthe soulofSouthAfricanrugby”.
...but Wales are stifled by the Springboks
Itoje: on another level
Wyn Jones: heartbreaking
Another Leicester miracle? Sporting headlines
If any team has “cause to dream
big”, it’s Leicester City, said Rick
Broadbent in The Times. And
now, four seasons after they
won the Premier League title,
the Foxes are “dreaming of
miracles again”. Their 9-0
victory over Southampton last
Friday–the biggest away win in
the 131-year history of the
English top-flight–tookthem
to third in the Premier League,
behind only Liverpool and Manchester City.
Since Brendan Rodgers took over as manager in
February, they have played with “pace, control
and belief”. This team is “ridingawave”.
Jamie Vardy is at the heart of this resurgence,
said Rob Tanner on The Athletic. The striker’s
hat-trick against Southampton took his total
under Rodgers to 18 goals in 20 matches–five
morethan any other Premier
League player in that time.
Unlike his predecessor, Claude
Puel, the manager has “set his
team up to get the best out of
Vardy”: he favoursadirect,
attacking brand of football. Yet
there is far more to this side
than just Vardy. Ayoze Pérez,
who joined from Newcastle in
the summer, also scoredahat-
trick against the Saints, while
Harvey Barnes, the 21-year-old winger, “torm-
ented” their defence. And then there’s James
Maddison, their creative fulcrum; and Ben
Chilwell and Ricardo Pereira, their marauding
full-backs. Just how far can Leicester go, asked
Jonathan Northcroft in The Sunday Times. Well,
if they can keep this form up,aplac einthe top
fou rshould be well within their reach.
Vardy(centre) and Pérez (right)
