Stade de France, midnight on Saturday - Can I make this blog sigh? Can I make this page shed a soft tear? Can I make these words jump off the screen and link arms with you?
Tonight, the nerve-frying, heart-squeezing, bone-shaking dream that has been England’s World Cup wonderland finally came to rest.
At a Stade de France so cold the claps froze on your fingers, the Springboks did exactly what Brian Ashton’s boys had done for the last four weeks – held firm, made no mistakes, poured on the pressure and picked the enemy off with penalties.