In 2019, England lost the World Cup final to South Africa when their scrum was dismantled, with replacement prop Dan Cole widely criticised after being thrown into the mix in the third minute after Kyle Sinckler was knocked out.
Four years on England fans woke up wondering what might have been had Cole not been replaced by Sinckler, who immediately gave away two penalties after coming on as the Springbok scrum suddenly achieved total domination and propelled them to their 16-15 comeback semi-final victory.
Coach Steve Borthwick had tweaked his front-row for the match, hoping that Sinckler and Ellis Genge would bring energy from the bench but the move backfired badly.
Veterans Cole and Joe Marler had played their part in giving England scrum parity but that flipped after they…
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Cape Times (Digital) - 1 Issue, 2023-10-23