on the ropes

While the men pulled on the ropes with all their might, I drew a picture....

When it was standing fully upright on its flat base, the men were ordered to stop pulling on the ropes.

Cowering on the ropes for much of a second half dominated by Jack Dempsey's carries, Gregor Brown's power, Rory Hutchinson's unrelenting attacking and Kyle Steyn's constant influence, the visitors found something when it looked like they had nothing.

With Newcastle on the ropes, Adama Boiro lashed a ferocious strike off the woodwork from 18 yards.

In the group-stage fixture between these teams, South Africa were skittled for just 69 as England's spinners ripped through them, and it immediately looked like their World Cup campaign was on the ropes.