If there is anyone left in England still unaware of the fact that a large part of the rugby world hates their team, they obviously haven't been reading Chris Rattue in the New Zealand Herald.
Under the headline 'Please Boks, end this nightmare Rattue writes: "Come on South Africa. Please, please, please. If there is any justice in this world, the Springboks will annihilate England in the Rugby World Cup final on Sunday morning and strike a blow for southern hemisphere rugby's mad, crazy obsession with providing a bit of entertainment."
Further demonstrating his gift for the art of understatement, Rattue continues: "England are in the World Cup final. England are in the World Cup final. England are in the World Cup final. You can repeat these words over and over again, and they still sound like a crazy nightmare. Boring and hopeless England are in the World Cup final".
After asking his readers "How on earth did this tournament come to such a hellish state?" Rattue does at least find one positive about the semi-finals. "It was a great relief to see Argentina shoved out of the tournament by the Springboks... Once again the delights of Argentinean rugby escaped me. Surely Argentina weren't the darlings of the tournament, as some made out... Argentina aren't darlings. They are dullards".
The build-up to the final has been temporarily suspended by the rest of New Zealand's press as the campaign to blame yet another early exit on referee Wayne Barnes rumbles on into its 12th day. Despite the fact that Barnes was 'passed' in his performance review of that semi-final, headed up by Kiwi Paddy O'Brien, headlines on most back pages read like this one from The New Zealander: "Quarter-final ref Barnes made errors".
"Wayne Barnes made at least three serious errors that went against the All Blacks late in the World Cup quarter-final against France," it begins, before adding further down the page that two of them were attributed to the touch judges and then, right down the bottom, the fact that O'Brien stated that "to blame him [Barnes] for the loss is completely wrong".
Back to the Pommie-bashing, one man managing to be marginally less overt in his contempt than Chris Rattue was The Sydney Morning Herald's Spiros Zavos: "There is no way, for instance, that England are the best or second best team in the tournament. But that is tournament play." Zavos goes on to point out that: "South Africa's journey to World Cup glory has been much easier than a Tri-Nations tournament".
In South Africa's Independent, an article by Dave James picks up on French support for the Springboks. "The hosts insist that despite having lost to their bitterest rivals at the semi-final stage for the second tournament in succession, it is not a case of sour grapes. They believe a South Africa win is vital for the health of sport, in general," he writes, a point he goes on to prove with this quote from the French flanker Thierry Dusautoir: "If the English win two titles in a row...." sighed Dusautoir without completing his sentence. "We still have a grudge and some bitterness towards the English."
Michael Trapido in the Mail & Guardian has picked up on the fact that Brian Ashton's contract will be extended: "Wonderful news! Now Sir Brian (if they win it) or the late Brian Ashton (if they lose), can sit back and plot the final, safe in the knowledge that as long as he wins he's away. I'm happy for Brian, particularly as I've seen his tactics - brilliant! England's World Cup final strategy 1: Pass it to Wilkinson, who kicks. That's as far as he's got, but I'm sure the rest will be a riveting read."
It would have been far more sensible, of course, to make the head coach reapply for his own job in the same week that he is trying to prepare his team for the World Cup Final. Mark Keohane, writing in the Pretoria News touches on just that. "When the wise heads of South African rugby advertised White's job a week ago, they asked for someone who could handle abnormality, intrusion and ridicule. They did this at a time when an extraordinary character was negotiating the kind of social and political obstacles no other coach in world rugby can comprehend. They did this without looking at what they already had... South African rugby doesn't deserve him."
According to several South African papers, it is common knowledge that "Blue Bulls coach Heyneke Meyer was already promised the Springbok coaching job before Jake White's national squad left for the World Cup".
