tries reflective of the Bok's willingness to attack with efficient ruthlessness. Their next encounter was a crucial clash with World Champions England. England, now on a three-game losing streak to the Boks, were on the ropes after a scrappy and poor showing against the USA. It took no longer than four minutes before Du Preez sent Juan Smith over for a try. The Boks dominated their opposition, displaying a tactically astute game plan. Du Preez was the mastermind and he orchestrated South Africa's next try as he regathered a loose ball and tore through England's defence; he sent JP Pietersen over for his first try of the evening and later in the second half broke away on the blindside to put JP Pietersen away for his second. This victory set the tone for South Africa's triumph. They employed a strong tactical kicking game backed-up by stout defence and the best line-out in the world. With a clinical counter-attacking game the Boks were able to vary their approach and ended the year the number one ranked team in the world. The Springboks' final pool match was against the US in Montpellier. They ran in nine tries to two to win 64–15 and finish on top of Pool A. The only downside was a knee injury to prop BJ Botha, which would rule him out for the rest of the World Cup. White was pleased with his team's efforts: What we wanted to accomplish was to get some structure and continuity to our game. Some of the tries we scored were very pleasing. I don't think the US are as weak as the scoreline suggests. The most important thing was that we put things together on a game day. We haven't been executing them that well so far, but I was happy with the way we kept the ball alive. Further accolades were to follow; the day after the World Cup final victory, White was named IRB Coach of the Year for the second time. On 29 October, barely a week after the Springboks' World Cup success, the South African Rugby Union (SARU) confirmed that White had not re-applied for the position of Springboks coach and would therefore not be considered for the role. Although White's contract expired on 31 December, he was angry with the way the SARU had acted, stating that his contract did not require him to apply and