Size, speed, strategy and conviction proved a potent cocktail as South Africa’s superb performance eventually snuffed out England and landed a third Rugby World Cup for the Springboks.

The fingerprints of intuitive defence coach Jacques Nienaber were all over it. Eddie Jones’ men could have few excuses. They would not have been particularly surprised by what hit them.

Their three-Test series against the same opponents last June provided plenty of clues. Yet England seemed powerless to stop a canny gameplan carried out by the team in green and gold.

Take this sequence, which begins in the fifth minute. From the base of a ruck five metres out from England’s line, Ben Youngs bends to address the ball. Beyond the breakdown you can see South Africa full-back Willie Le Roux, clearly pointing to his right.

It is fair to suggest that he is alerting Cheslin Kolbe to the possibility that England are keen to run the ball out of trouble: