FRANCE: RUGBY - South Africa say England's experience could be a factor in final

South Africa rugby coach says "Twickenham performance" against England is a "good preparation" for World Cup final in France. South Africa's rugby union coach Jake White said in Paris, France on Monday (October 15) that England's victory in the 2003 World Cup final over Australia will give them a psychological advantage for next Saturday's (October 20) final despite South Africa's recent dominance over England. "There is no doubt that that's a massive advantage to have as a group. They know what to expect, they've been there and above all, they've won it away from home in Australia as well so it's not like they've just played the Rugby World Cup final at Twickenham," he said. South Africa come into the final having beaten England 36-0 in the group phase of the World Cup last month, but their turning point against England came last November in London when they won 25-14 to end a run of six successive defeats to England. "There is no doubt that the performance we had at Twickenham is going to help us in preparation for this week against England," White said. South Africa reached the final with a 37-13 win over Argentina on Sunday (October 14), but White was still not entirely happy with his team's performances. "We haven't got it right this whole tournament. We defended well at times, we attacked well at times. I think our scrum has been okay at times, our line-out has been good at times. I think what's important this week is that we just try and get everything as close to perfect for the Saturday game. "And then the result will look after itself," White added. Few people thought the Springboks would win the title this time but they were catapulted to favourites after New Zealand and Australia crashed out in the quarter-finals and host-nation France bowed out in the semis to England.

ITN Source | October 16, 2007

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