[imagesource: AFP]

For every team and nation that wins, there must be one that loses.

As many in the English press have said, their team was up against the kind of external force that you cannot define, and usually cannot defeat.

The Springboks, on the day, had an extra sense of purpose that England just couldn’t match, and the rest is history.

For a look at all the Springbok videos – speeches, dancing, singing, drinking – head over here, but let’s also see things from the other side of the spectrum.

Just remember – we’re not supposed to enjoy these:

The English have already won the Cricket World Cup this year, so there’s no need to be greedy.

You’re allowed to enjoy this one of Boris Johnson watching Mapimpi’s try, though.

Sorry, BoJo, but you get zero consolation.

Via the BBC, a few more:

Pubs in London began to empty even before the final whistle, as South Africa’s name was engraved on the Webb Ellis cup for the third time.

The British Beer and Pub Association had predicted an extra million pints would be sold today if England had been victorious. It’s not known how many more are likely to be drunk as fans drown their sorrows.

My guess is quite a few pints drowned in sorrow, although some in the English press still managed to take a bigger picture approach.

Here’s the Telegraph with a big thanks to the English team for uniting “this fractured nation”, whilst still landing a few body blows:

At the start of what threatens to be a long and fractious winter – a general election, the never-ending Brexit saga and the inevitable bad weather – this was the moment when the hitherto invincible England rugby team were going to give us all a brief, thrilling blast of summer.

Head coach Eddie Jones had said he wanted to “give the country something to cheer about, and with Brexit at the moment they probably need something to cheer about. It’s a job of the team to make the country happy.”

Then the match began, and it all went downhill from there…

It has been an amazing tournament, and England have done us proud. They may have fallen at the final hurdle, but they’ve shown many admirable qualities which would undoubtedly improve the national fabric if they were adopted across the board.

They’ve worked tirelessly hard not just for themselves but for each other too. That semi-final in particular was a masterclass of teamwork: each man playing so well that he lifted up the others around him, and in so doing made the sum even greater than its parts…

They’ve brought us together, if only for a short time. In an atomised and fractured world, it’s a special thing to know that millions of people were for a few hours transfixed by the same drama: that we cheered as one, winced as one, screamed oaths at the screen as one. That’s not nothing. That’s something…

Thank you, England. You have indeed done us proud. Now you must excuse me. In the knowledge that South Africa have won their three World Cups at precise 12-year intervals – 1995, 2007 and now 2019 – I’m off to put a ton of money on the Bokke making it number four in 2031.

Why wait that long?

Jokes aside, the English semi-final performance against the All Blacks is as close to rugby perfection as I can remember, and theirs is a young team that should still go from strength to strength.

To finish, here’s a healthy mix of fans from many countries completely plastered following the final whistle.

Be warned that there is plenty of strong language in this one:

[sources:bbc&telegraph]