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'Everyone takes the mick out of me when I say I still think it was a try but I genuinely do'

Mark Cueto reacts after his try for England in the 2007 World Cup final was disallowed (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

Former England wing Mark Cueto will be willing Eddie Jones’ men to victory in Japan on Saturday, even if it means him losing his claim to fame.

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The ex-Sale star was a bootlace away from becoming England’s hero in the 2007 World Cup final against South Africa in Paris, where he was denied what he still believes was a match-winning try.

Referee Alain Rolland was unsighted when Cueto touched down in the corner early in the second half and Stuart Dickinson, the television match official, spent two minutes and 35 seconds reviewing footage before eventually deciding that the England man’s left foot had made contact with the touchline.

It consigned England to a 15-6 defeat and gives the class of 2019 the chance to make amends when they take on the Springboks in Yokohama.

“Everyone takes the mick out of me when I say I still think it was a try but I genuinely do,” said Cueto. “There’s a million angles to suggest it was a try and there was one angle where it was 50-50. So in that case you have got to go with it.”

(Continue reading below…)

Cueto has no doubt England would have gone on to lift the World Cup had the try been awarded and he is equally convinced it would have been given today due to the advances in technology. “VAR is so prominent in football at the minute and is almost at the point where we were with the TMO 12 years ago,” he said.

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“It had only just been introduced to the game and there weren’t as many camera angles and as many cameras at the matches so it made it difficult. The one shot from behind that showed my foot in the air over the touchline, that camera is probably 100 metres away from where I actually was.

“That shows how basic the TMO was back then, whereas now they have got cameras in the flags so every angle is taken care of and you can get within a metre of every play in the game.

“Everything is so advanced now, you rarely get the decision wrong. Let’s hope there isn’t a controversial issue like that on Saturday but, if there was, I think you’d definitely be able to make a 100 per cent decision on whether it was or wasn’t.

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“We were 9-3 down so a converted try would have put us 10-9 in front with 20 minutes to go and suddenly all the pressure is on South Africa, who never looked like breaking us that day. South Africa didn’t get in our 22, they scored all their points from penalties. You never know how it would have gone but we were confident we could have closed the game out.”

The enormity of the decision hit home to Cueto a few days after he arrived back in England. “I remember filling my car at a petrol station when a white van went past with a load of builders in it who all shouted: ‘It was a try’,” recalled Cueto, who is now Sale’s commercial director.

 

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“I thought that was quite nice. If people are taking it that way and they’re not hurling rotten fruit and stones at me, then it’s not a bad thing. But I thought it would last maybe six weeks and once the World Cup has died down it would all be forgotten.

“But 12 years on, believe it or not, it still seems to come up every other day. It’s incredible really. But I see it as a positive. It’s my fifth year since I retired and you soon get forgotten so it’s quite a nice thing to be remembered. Obviously I’d rather be remembered for something a bit more positive.

“Certainly this week I knew it was going to be mentioned more than ever. I don’t know when it will go away, I think maybe if we go on to beat South Africa this weekend and win the World Cup then there’s almost no reason to refer back to ’07 any more. From a selfish point of view, that would be sad because then I’d be really forgotten, wouldn’t I?”

– Press Association 

WATCH: Billy Vuniupola meets the media in Japan on Tuesday ahead of England’s World Cup final with South Africa 

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B
BeamMeUp 44 minutes ago
The Springboks have something you don't have

A few comments. Firstly, I am a Bok fan and it's been a golden period for us. I hope my fellow Bok fans appreciate this time and know that it cannot last forever, so soak it all in!


The other thing to mention (and this is targeted at Welsh, English and even Aussie supporters who might be feeling somewhat dejected) is that it's easy to forget that just before Rassie Erasmus took over in 2018, the Boks were ranked 7th in the world and I had given up hope we'd ever be world beaters again.


Sport is a fickle thing and Rassie and his team have managed to get right whatever little things it takes to make a mediocre team great. I initially worried his methods might be short-lived (how many times can you raise a person's commitment by talking about his family and his love of his country as a motivator), but he seems to have found a way. After winning in 2019 on what was a very simple game plan, he has taken things up ever year - amazing work which has to be applauded! (Dankie Rassie! Ons wardeer wat jy vir die ondersteuners en die land doen!) (Google translate if you don't understand Afrikaans! 😁)


I don't think people outside South Africa fully comprehend the enormity of the impact seeing black and white, English, Afrikaans and Xhosa and all the other hues playing together does for the country's sense of unity. It's pure joy and happiness.


This autumn tour has been a bit frustrating in that the Boks have won, but never all that convincingly. On the one hand, I'd like to have seen more decisive victories, BUT what Rassie has done is expose a huge number of players to test rugby, whilst also diversifying the way the Boks play (Tony Brown's influence).


This change of both style and personnel has resulted in a lack of cohesion at times and we've lost some of the control, whereas had we been playing our more traditional style, that wouldn't happen. This is partially attributable to the fact that you cannot play Tony Brown's expansive game whilst also having 3 players available at every contact point to clear the defence off the ball. I have enjoyed seeing the Boks play a more exciting, less attritional game, which is a boring, albeit effective spectacle. So, I am happy to be patient, because the end justifies the means (and I trust Rassie!). Hopefully all these players we are blooding will give us incredible options for substitutions come next year's Rugby Championship and of course, the big prize in 2027.


Last point! The game of rugby has never been as exciting as it is now. Any of Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, France, Argentina, Scotland, England & Australia can beat one another. South Africa may be ranked #1, but I wouldn't bet my house in them beating France or New Zealand, and we saw Argentina beating both South Africa and New Zealand this year! That's wonderful for the game and makes the victories we do get all the sweeter. Each win is 100% earned. Long may it last!


Sorry for the long post! 🏉🌍

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