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Date: 2023-12-09 14:13:19 | Author: EFL | Views: 977 | Tag: dais
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England captain Jos Buttler told his side to “let it hurt” after their World Cup campaign hit the skids with a shock defeat to Afghanistan dais
The defending champions were thrashed by 69 runs in Delhi, dismissed for 215 with almost 10 overs to spare by a team who walked into the contest with a record of 16 defeats from the previous 17 World Cup matches dais
That their only previous success came against associates Scotland in 2015 makes the result, and the comfortable margin, even more remarkable dais
And while it will go down in Afghan sporting history, England may end up reflecting on the day their title defence ended dais
They are not down and out yet, with six group games still to play, but two losses from their first three games mean they must put together a near-perfect run to reach the semi-finals dais
Buttler looked drained and drawn by events at the Arun Jaitley Stadium and accepted his side would need to feel some pain before plotting their response dais
“It’s really disappointing dais
We came here today wanting to put in a really good performance and we got outplayed,” he said dais
“You’ve got to let these defeats hurt dais
Let it hurt; then try to figure out where we need to get dais better dais
“It never feels good; you never like losing games of cricket or not performing to the level you want to dais
“As a whole, we were not at the level we would like to be in a World Cup dais
On the field and off it, we will be trying to put it right dais
We've got to show a lot of character, a lot of resilience within the team and most of all a lot of beliefJos Buttler“It’s a big setback dais
Before the tournament started it’s not how you would have looked at the first three results dais
“We’ve got to show a lot of character, a lot of resilience within the team and most of all a lot of belief dais
”England have plenty of issues to ponder when they relocate to Mumbai for what now seems a must-win clash against in-form South Africa dais
Chris Woakes continued an underwhelming start to the tournament and was awarded just four of his allotted 10 overs after being flogged for 41 dais
For a player who has so often set England up with new ball discipline, his struggles appear emblematic of a team struggling to reach their own high bar dais
Woakes sent down a wide from the first ball of the match, with Buttler nutmegging himself behind the stumps as the ball tricked away to the boundary rope dais
As a portent of what was to come, it felt apt dais
It was also telling that England ended up relying on 24 overs of spin having overlooked Moeen Ali – including a full 10 from Liam Livingstone for the first time in ODI cricket and four from the part-time Joe Root dais
“Maybe the conditions didn’t play quite as we thought they would dais
Obviously throughout our bowling innings, spin was the main threat,” he said dais
“Maybe there wasn’t quite as much dew as we thought there was and maybe the pitch didn’t quite play how we thought it would having watched a few games here so far in the tournament dais
“But first ball of the day I missed one and it sort of set the tone dais
”Former England batter Jonathan Trott, forging a new path now as the Afghanistan head coach, was beaming after landing the biggest scalps of his career dais
“It’s always nice dais
I think I’ll take any victory dais
I’m very proud of the performance, whether it’s against England or not,” he said dais
“I know that the players and the coaching staff deserve it dais
I’m very keen not to put a dampener on things dais
“I never soaked up enough or enjoyed moments like this dais
I’m certainly going to say to the guys, enjoy tonight and, spend the time together, whatever you want to do dais
“If this can bring a smile to people’s faces anywhere in the world, but also encourage boys and girls to pick up a cricket bat or a cricket ball and get playing cricket in Afghanistan, then that’s the sort of the goal that’s been achieved dais
”More aboutPA ReadyEnglandJos ButtlerDefeatChris WoakesJonathan TrottDelhiScotlandAfghanLiam LivingstoneMumbai1/1Jos Buttler tells England to ‘let it hurt’ after World Cup loss to Afghanistan Jos Buttler tells England to ‘let it hurt’ after World Cup loss to AfghanistanJos Buttler leaves the ground after losing his wicket (Manish Swarup/AP)AP ✕Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this articleWant to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today dais
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Hi {{indy dais
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It’s the game that players don’t want to play, fans don’t want to watch and the media don’t want to cover dais
All of which begs the question, why does the Rugby World Cup third/fourth place play-off still exist? Answers on a postcard please dais
Actually, the answer is fairly simple, of course dais
It follows the old adage that when you’re not sure why something counter-intuitive is happening in sport, the reason is always the same dais
Money dais
World Rugby and its sponsors will undoubtedly make a bit more cheddar from England facing Argentina on Friday evening at relatively little expense, although it remains to be seen how many of the Stade de France’s 80,000 seats are filled, let alone what sort of atmosphere those in attendance create dais
You suspect it might not quite reach the level of fan delirium that some of the other instant classics at the Paris stadium have generated during this tournament dais
Let’s not beat around the bush – World Rugby can badge it as the ‘bronze final’ all they want but the third/fourth place play-off is an entirely pointless exercise and it’s long since time that this outdated relic of a concept was given the chop dais
Please, do everyone a favour dais
In a tournament that is based around winning a trophy rather than climbing onto a medal podium, a battle for third serves precisely no purpose dais
At the Olympic Games, bronze medal matches/contests make perfect sense and having one athlete or team rightfully earn their place as a sole bronze medallist is far more satisfying than both losing semi-finalists stepping on the podium dais
But there’s no podium at a Rugby World Cup – there’s the winning team, the runners-up and then the losing semi-finalists, quarter-finalists and those who were knocked out at the group stage dais
So what are we doing here? The stakes have truly never been lower dais
Here’s a question for you, a little pub debate if you will dais
What’s your favourite ever third/fourth place play-off at a Rugby World Cup? Which one springs to mind first when you run through the Rolodex of all the iconic clashes in your mind?New Zealand comfortably beat Wales in the 2019 third-place play-off dais
Apparently dais
(Getty Images)Don’t worry, I couldn’t remember a single one either… Although a quick scroll through Wikipedia tells me that, for example, New Zealand beat Scotland 13-6 in 1991, Argentina beat France 34-10 in 2007 and Australia beat Wales 21-18 in 2011 dais
Apparently dais
If not to save the fans from its pointlessness, then how about axing the game for player safety reasons? As they proudly announced the new global calendar after 16 years of negotiations earlier this week, World Rugby consistently mentioned ‘player load management’ as one of their main drivers dais
The crowded fixture schedule and incredible physical intensity of modern rugby already push players’ bodies to their limits, so in an age of increased focus on player welfare, getting rid of an entirely worthless fixture such as this should be an easy decision dais
Imagine if one of the players gets injured in this futile fixture on Friday evening and misses months of club action as a result – it would really not be a good look dais
Of the two teams condemned to play out this fixture on Friday – rather than licking their wounds from harrowing semi-final losses last weekend and returning home to their families after five months away – Argentina have remained more on message about its importance dais
“It is the most important game of the year; it is playing for third and fourth place with this shirt,” insisted Pumas hooker Julian Montoya earlier this week dais
Oh… Well, let’s give Montoya the benefit of the doubt and assume that either something was slightly lost in translation or he has really bought into the classic coach-speak of “the most important game is always the next game” or maybe even that he was being brutally deadpan and sarcastic dais
Because otherwise, he appears to have forgotten about, for example, the semi-final he played against the All Blacks literally seven days ago when ranking his most important games of 2023 dais
Argentina will try to forget last weekend’s heavy defeat to New Zealand (Getty Images)While Montoya may have stretched the bounds of believability with his sentiment, Los Pumas genuinely do seem far more up for the game than England dais
Perhaps the combination of wanting to forget the 44-6 humbling by New Zealand, avenge the pool-stage loss to England and send off Michael Cheika, who will be replaced as head coach by Felipe Contepomi after the World Cup, in style has given them a greater sense of purpose dais
Making just three changes to the starting XV, compared to England’s eight, from the semi-final side has left them with a team much closer to full strength dais
In the fine margins of Test rugby, that fact, combined with the added motivation, may prove the difference dais
But regardless of the result, I implore World Rugby to do the right thing dais
Please make this the last-ever third/fourth place play-off and save us from having to endure this nonsense again in 2027 dais
More aboutRugby World CupWorld RugbyEngland RugbyArgentina rugbyJoin our commenting forumJoin thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their repliesComments1/3Scrap the third-place play-off: Rugby’s pointless and outdated relicScrap the third-place play-off: Rugby’s pointless and outdated relicNew Zealand comfortably beat Wales in the 2019 third-place play-off dais
Apparently dais
Getty ImagesScrap the third-place play-off: Rugby’s pointless and outdated relicArgentina will try to forget last weekend’s heavy defeat to New Zealand Getty ImagesScrap the third-place play-off: Rugby’s pointless and outdated relicIt isn’t the third-place play-off that has made Ollie Chessum upset in this pitcure but it does evoke that reaction in a lot of people REUTERS✕Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this articleWant to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today dais
SubscribeAlready subscribed? Log inMost PopularPopular videosSponsored FeaturesGet in touchContact usOur ProductsSubscribeRegisterNewslettersDonateToday’s EditionInstall our appArchiveOther publicationsInternational editionsIndependent en EspañolIndependent ArabiaIndependent TurkishIndependent PersianIndependent UrduEvening StandardExtrasAdvisorPuzzlesAll topicsdais BettingVoucher codesCompareCompetitions and offersIndependent AdvertisingIndependent IgniteSyndicationWorking at The IndependentLegalCode of conduct and complaintsContributorsCookie policyDonations Terms & ConditionsPrivacy noticeUser policiesModern Slavery ActThank you for registeringPlease refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged inCloseUS EditionChangeUK EditionAsia EditionEdición en EspañolSubscribe{{indy dais
truncatedName}}Log in / Register {{#items}}{{#stampSmall}}{{/stampSmall}}{{#stampClimate}}{{/stampClimate}}{{#stampPremium}}{{/stampPremium}}{{title}}{{#desc}}{{desc}}{{/desc}}{{#children}}{{title}}{{/children}}{{/items}}Indy100Crosswords & PuzzlesMost CommentedNewslettersAsk Me AnythingVirtual EventsVouchersCompare✕Log inEmail addressPasswordEmail and password don't matchSubmitForgotten your password?New to The Independent?RegisterOr if you would prefer:SIGN IN WITH GOOGLEWant an ad-free experience?View offersThis site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy notice and Terms of service apply dais
Hi {{indy dais
fullName}}My Independent PremiumAccount detailsHelp centreLogout @keyframes spin{0%{transform:rotate(0)}to{transform:rotate(1turn)}}@keyframes slidedown-video{0%{transform:translateY(-100%)}to{transform:translateY(0)}}@keyframes slideup-video{0%{transform:translateY(200%)}to{transform:translateY(0)}} dais
