The set-piece rules the world; this has been the Rugby World Cup where primary possession has been preeminent, with so few teams good enough, or bold enough, to attack with any conviction.

To control the scrum and lineout has been to allow the kicking units the ball to play the territory game. And so it was that South Africa’s towering lineout took its toll on England, and did what it did to every other lineout in the competition during the last six weeks – destroyed it.

Throughout the whole competition the Springboks have been untouchable on their own throw, whilst pilfering an average of 30% of opposition ball.

To upset the favourites, therefore, England really needed to challenge the Springboks at their strong point, but from the very first throw of the final in Paris matters proved all too predictable as the South Africans harried and hassled England’s lineout.

Tempo and confidence was always going to count heavily for an England team that was trying to build its self-belief on the back of momentum.

The momentum of two epic, ground-out knockout wins. But instead of England making the surging start and eating away at South Africa’s strength it was Mark Regan and his jumpers who were grounded with Bak-kies Botha reaching across Simon Shaw to steal England’s first throw.

The second was soon lost and the Springboks knew that, when in doubt, a ball belted down the touch line by Fourie Du Preez, Butch James or Percy Montgomery would enable them to have a decent sporting bet at regathering possession. In contrast, when England kicked possession away it was not coming back in their direction in any hurry.

The prime reason for this was the man of the match, Victor Matfield. The Blue Bulls lock forward has long dominated on the hard grounds of the High Veldt but this World Cup has seen him deliver the most polished performances time after time.

At the very summit of his game, he is the safest target in the sport. Not once did England even threaten to inhabit the same stratosphere in which Matfield plucked ball with consummate ease.

Mike Catt found a fine first-half touch within five metres of the Springbok line, but that was that. No chance of captain John Smit missing his middle jumper, who soared above all comers, last night and throughout the tournament. Ali Williams, of New Zealand, has grown as a world-class lock forward in recent months but Matfield is out on his own.

In Springbok colours he is aided and abetted by Juan Smith, the blind-side flanker who is probably the best back row lineout forward on the planet. It is an easy life for Smit, with three such targets.

England was aware of the challenge it posed. On the Tuesday before the final England’s Ben Kay and Simon Shaw were offered up for the delectation of the assembled media. Second rows are not regarded as the sexiest subjects on the rugby field; to push the pair into the forefront of the press conference was a tacit confession of where England would have to succeed if the Springboks were to be beaten.

Kay obeserved: “It is not a complicated lineout. They get into the air and cause a lot of problems, you don’t have to read a lot into their tactics. You know who will go up, it makes them more predictable on a negative side, but from their perspective there is less issue with the timing.”

Kay knows a thing or two about the lineouts; after last night we know a great deal more. England were handed a lesson in the ability to control the set-piece and with it the match.

It has been a tournament where percentages have dominated, so therefore the high rollers have been handed a back seat. To this mind, the balance has been way off kilter and the sides which address it and rediscover their feel for the game, will be the harder to stop. Last night saw a dearth of risk-taking. It was a case of ‘after you’, with the kickers looking for enough territory to force the errors.

With Matfield and his mates in command, the Springbok boots played off a sounder platform and it was England who attempted the creative stuff in the parts of the ground they did not intend to play.

South Africa’s first three points were a direct result of the otherwise outstanding Mathew Tait stepping back into a wall of tacklers in front of his own posts. Points, in this World Cup, in the form of penalties and not tries, win prizes and Percy Montgomery duly kicked his side into the lead when England had to make the early running.

A sly trip by Lewis Moody, which was superbly spotted by Alain Rolland, was another moment of sporting suicide as England offered themselves as sitting ducks to Montgomery. Against Australia discipline was first rate, but last Saturday against France it lapsed at potentially important moments. Fortunately, the hosts lacked the ingredients to punish England.

South Africa and their full-back did not. If a team is going to adopt such a basic game plan it must execute all the basics to near perfection. England, without the personnel or the belief to score tries out of nowhere, has to apply itself better than most.

Consider England’s try-scoring record against the older, more established nations (we will no longer call them the first tier in honour of the ‘smaller nations’ who have bloodied so many noses in this wonderful tournament). In the semi-final against France there was one try from a fortuitous bounce after 82 seconds – yet nothing for the next 78-and-a-half minutes of the match. The previous week England failed to score a single try against Australia, as they had against South Africa five weeks ago. Even in the two warm-up matches against France, just prior to the tournament, England failed to cross the try line. When a team has this paucity of strike-power every point matters.

To illustrate the difference between the 2007 world champions and the beaten finalists, South Africa scored 33 tries to England's 12 in this tournament.

A more confident South Africa would have backed themselves last night, but the pressure of the final straitjacketed them. As it was, Matfield and the lineout were more than good enough to reach out and grasp that World Cup.