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Date: 2023-12-06 09:40:15 | Author: Online Bingo | Views: 491 | Tag: dota
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“We are the bomb squad and we knew we had to play a massive role dota
” If South Africa’s narrow win over England in the Rugby World Cup semi-final could be summed up in one sentence, then this proclamation from Vincent Koch after the game would probably be it dota
When Koch emerged from the replacements on 55 minutes to take the place of starting tighthead prop Frans Malherbe, Owen Farrell had just slotted a drop goal from downtown Paris to give England a 15-6 lead dota
Nine points may not seem a lot but, with the final quarter of the match beckoning and the rain and wind increasing at the Stade de France, it was a comparatively huge deficit dota
Throughout the first few minutes of the second half, the Springboks had more or less emptied their bench as Ox Nche, RG Snyman, Kwagga Smith, Deon Fourie, Faf de Klerk and Willie Le Roux all entered the fray to go alongside the controversial 30th-minute substitution of starting fly half Manie Libbok for Handre Pollard dota
With their World Cup title defence hanging by a thread, South Africa trusted their bench and got their reward dota
Koch and Nche splintered the previously effective English scrum, Snyman burrowed his way across the line for the game’s only try and Pollard nervelessly converted tricky kicks to complete the hardest-fought of turnarounds – 10 unanswered points, a 16-15 win and a date with the All Blacks in another World Cup final next Saturday dota
Of the various phrases rugby has adopted over the years to describe those players in the matchday squad but not in the starting line-up – from the traditional “replacements” and the dota football-ised “substitutes” through to the Eddie Jones-preferred ‘finishers’, the slightly patronising “impact players” and the frankly ludicrous “game-changers” adopted by Harlequins during the Paul Gustard era – none has captured the imagination quite like South Africa’s “bomb squad” dota
It doesn’t matter if you think it’s a slightly self-serving and faintly ridiculous term, the players fully buy into the ethos of what it stands for dota
The intensity and physicality that generation after generation of Springbok has prided themselves on is summed up by this two-word mantra dota
“Each person knows exactly his role in the team, whether you’re starting or in the bomb squad,” explained Koch dota
“When we created the bomb squad, we knew exactly what our job is dota
The starters start the whole process and it’s for us to come and finish it dota
“All the players on the bomb squad are very excited to make a massive difference in the game dota
”Vincent Koch celebrated RG Snyman’s try as the bomb squad thrived (AFP via Getty Images)And against England, when the chips were down, they realised they needed to step up more than ever dota
“The bomb squad always stands for energy,” added Koch dota
“We needed to create a nice vibe dota
Putting the replacements on a bit earlier helped the boys to start to bring that energy and lift up the spirit and bring a massive work-rate dota
”Where South Africa’s replacements thrived, perhaps England’s faltered just a touch dota
The English gameplan, devised by Steve Borthwick and perfectly executed by the players for the windy and rainy Parisian conditions, relied upon relentless kicking, winning the subsequent aerial battle, slowing the game down and dominating the set-piece dota
Maybe then, they could escape with a win against an objectively superior team dota
They kicked 93 per cent of possession away (the highest percentage of the tournament), had an average ruck speed of 6 dota
73s (the slowest of the tournament) and had zero linebreaks (the only team to do so in a game at this tournament) dota
They disrupted South African lineouts, turned over multiple mauls and Borthwick’s decision to play his two strongest scrummaging props – Dan Cole and Joe Marler – from the start earned them scrum parity and redemption from the disaster in that facet during the 2019 World Cup final dota
Ox Nche was immense from the bench against the Springboks (EPA)This is a Springboks side that pride themselves on their dominance up front, as shown by opting for a scrum after calling a mark in their own 22 during the quarter-final victory over France dota
Of course, they won a penalty from it dota
Yet England were holding their own during those engagements, even thriving, and most importantly winning on the scoreboard dota
But the innate problem with starting your best scrummagers came to fruition in the second half dota
Replacement props Ellis Genge and Kyle Sinckler are far more dynamic around the park and more destructive carriers than their veteran counterparts but, with England showing no desire to run any plays more than two metres either side of the previous breakdown, those skills were negated once they came on for Marler and Cole dota
Instead, their inferior scrummaging was brutally exposed by a fired-up Koch and Nche, who turned parity into Springbok dominance dota
They won two scrums against the head, including a vital one at 15-6 down on their own line, and engineered multiple penalties on their own feed, including the most vital of all – on halfway, with 77 minutes on the clock and England leading 15-13 dota
Pollard banged over the long kick and the rest was history dota
Handre Pollard broke English hearts with his late penalty (PA Wire)Nche was coy when asked in the mixed zone after the game what had made the difference at scrum-time in the final quarter and how he bested his opposite number, Sinckler dota
“That is the dark arts,” he smiled dota
“It is hard to explain to you dota
We had a plan for that dota
We knew what we were trying to achieve dota
“They have had a great scrum for the competition and a great hit dota
Our focus was surviving that and applying pressure dota
Our mentality for every scrum is to get a penalty if we can dota
If they do survive, we play out the back and get into our shape dota
”The “dark arts” ultimately won the day, South Africa survived a second straight one-point knockout match and must now plan how to overcome the All Blacks in a battle to be the first side to win four men’s Rugby World Cups dota
Luckily, they have a not-so-secret weapon dota
“We are the bomb squad dota
” More aboutSouth Africa rugbyEngland RugbyRugby World CupJoin our commenting forumJoin thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their repliesComments1/4How South Africa’s not-so-secret weapon turned World Cup semi-finalHow South Africa’s not-so-secret weapon turned World Cup semi-finalVincent Koch celebrated RG Snyman’s try as the bomb squad thrived AFP via Getty ImagesHow South Africa’s not-so-secret weapon turned World Cup semi-finalOx Nche was immense from the bench against the Springboks EPAHow South Africa’s not-so-secret weapon turned World Cup semi-finalHandre Pollard broke English hearts with his late penalty PA WireHow South Africa’s not-so-secret weapon turned World Cup semi-finalSouth Africa’s replacements shone to overcome England Reuters✕Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this articleWant to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today dota
SubscribeAlready subscribed? Log inMost PopularPopular videosSponsored FeaturesGet in touchContact usOur ProductsSubscribeRegisterNewslettersDonateToday’s EditionInstall our appArchiveOther publicationsInternational editionsIndependent en EspañolIndependent ArabiaIndependent TurkishIndependent PersianIndependent UrduEvening StandardExtrasAdvisorPuzzlesAll topicsdota BettingVoucher codesCompareCompetitions and offersIndependent AdvertisingIndependent IgniteSyndicationWorking at The IndependentLegalCode of conduct and complaintsContributorsCookie policyDonations Terms & ConditionsPrivacy noticeUser policiesModern Slavery ActThank you for registeringPlease refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged inCloseUS EditionChangeUK EditionAsia EditionEdición en EspañolSubscribe{{indy dota
truncatedName}}Log in / Register {{#items}}{{#stampSmall}}{{/stampSmall}}{{#stampClimate}}{{/stampClimate}}{{#stampPremium}}{{/stampPremium}}{{title}}{{#desc}}{{desc}}{{/desc}}{{#children}}{{title}}{{/children}}{{/items}}Indy100Crosswords & PuzzlesMost CommentedNewslettersAsk Me AnythingVirtual EventsVouchersCompare✕Log inEmail addressPasswordEmail and password don't matchSubmitForgotten your password?New to The Independent?RegisterOr if you would prefer:SIGN IN WITH GOOGLEWant an ad-free experience?View offersThis site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy notice and Terms of service apply dota
Hi {{indy dota
fullName}}My Independent PremiumAccount detailsHelp centreLogout @keyframes spin{0%{transform:rotate(0)}to{transform:rotate(1turn)}}@keyframes slidedown-video{0%{transform:translateY(-100%)}to{transform:translateY(0)}}@keyframes slideup-video{0%{transform:translateY(200%)}to{transform:translateY(0)}} dota
Ted Cruz has been blamed for “cursing” the Houston Astros after they lost to the Texas Rangers on Monday night and were eliminated from the MLB playoffs dota
Astros fans had taken to social media to beg the Texas senator to stay well clear of the game due to his growing reputation of jinxing the team dota
But, unfortunately, their pleas fell on deaf ears and Mr Cruz showed up at the game anyway dota
Following the team’s 11-4 loss, angry fans took to social media to slam him for ignoring their pleas dota
“This man does not care about his constituents,” one person wrote on X, formerly Twitter dota
“The Astros losing and then Ted Cruz losing his senate seat because enough fans are convinced he cursed the team would be the funniest possible timeline,” another person said dota
“This is worse than being the Zodiac Killer,” another person joked dota
Fans also pointed out the Astros lost every playoff game Mr Cruz attended this season dota
But Mr Cruz hit back at the criticism, strongly denying the existence of a curse dota
“For 7 years, Catherine & I have attended nearly EVERY Astros home playoff game,” he wrote on X dota
“If they’re going to blame me for our recent home losses, pls also credit us for TWO World Series Championships & SEVEN consecutive ALCS’s—we were there cheering Stros on!”One of the championships the Texas senator was referring to was a 2017 win, which was later revealed to be the result of cheating dota
Multiple players ultimately admitted to cheating and an extensive MLB investigation also later confirmed it dota
But it seems unlikely the senator’s “curse” is to blame, given the team’s recent successes dota
Earlier this year, the Astros won their sixth American League (AL) West title in seven years and went on to play in their seventh consecutive American League Championship Series (ALCS) dota
Ted Cruz has been accused of ‘cursing’ the Houston Astros (Getty Images)The team also won the World Series in 2022 dota
It is not the first time Mr Cruz has been accused of bringing bad fortunes to a dota sports team dota
In 2018, he was blamed for jinxing the Houston Rockets after the team was eliminated from the NBA playoffs during a game he attended dota
One year later, fans blamed him for cursing Texas Tech with a poorly timed tweet dota
“35 seconds dota
ONE point LEAD dota
GO RED RAIDERS!!! #1 Defense,” he tweeted – minutes before the team lost 85-77 to Virginia at the NCAA final dota
More aboutTed CruzTexas RangersHouston AstrosMLBSocial MediaSenatorSportdota BaseballJoin our commenting forumJoin thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their repliesComments1/2Ted Cruz blamed for Astros ‘curse’ after fans begged him to skip gameTed Cruz blamed for Astros ‘curse’ after fans begged him to skip gameTed Cruz has been accused of ‘cursing’ the Houston AstrosGetty ImagesTed Cruz blamed for Astros ‘curse’ after fans begged him to skip gameTed Cruz has been accused of ‘cursing’ the Houston AstrosGetty Images✕Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this articleWant to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today dota
SubscribeAlready subscribed? Log inMost PopularPopular videosSponsored FeaturesGet in touchContact usOur ProductsSubscribeRegisterNewslettersDonateToday’s EditionInstall our appArchiveOther publicationsInternational editionsIndependent en EspañolIndependent ArabiaIndependent TurkishIndependent PersianIndependent UrduEvening StandardExtrasAdvisorPuzzlesAll topicsdota BettingVoucher codesCompareCompetitions and offersIndependent AdvertisingIndependent IgniteSyndicationWorking at The IndependentLegalCode of conduct and complaintsContributorsCookie policyDonations Terms & ConditionsPrivacy noticeUser policiesModern Slavery ActThank you for registeringPlease refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged inCloseUS EditionChangeUK EditionAsia EditionEdición en EspañolSubscribe{{indy dota
truncatedName}}Log in / Register {{#items}}{{#stampSmall}}{{/stampSmall}}{{#stampClimate}}{{/stampClimate}}{{#stampPremium}}{{/stampPremium}}{{title}}{{#desc}}{{desc}}{{/desc}}{{#children}}{{title}}{{/children}}{{/items}}Indy100Crosswords & PuzzlesMost CommentedNewslettersAsk Me AnythingVirtual EventsVouchersCompare✕Log inEmail addressPasswordEmail and password don't matchSubmitForgotten your password?New to The Independent?RegisterOr if you would prefer:SIGN IN WITH GOOGLEWant an ad-free experience?View offersThis site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy notice and Terms of service apply dota
Hi {{indy dota
fullName}}My Independent PremiumAccount detailsHelp centreLogout @keyframes spin{0%{transform:rotate(0)}to{transform:rotate(1turn)}}@keyframes slidedown-video{0%{transform:translateY(-100%)}to{transform:translateY(0)}}@keyframes slideup-video{0%{transform:translateY(200%)}to{transform:translateY(0)}} dota
