A dogged South Africa side defended their Rugby World Cup crown and won a record fourth title with an unforgettable 12-11 victory over a 14-man New Zealand at the Stade de France.
In a captivating and bad-tempered contest – which saw three yellow cards and a historic red to Sam Cane brandished – Beauden Barrett’s solitary try was rendered meaningless by four Handre Pollard penalties, seeing the ecstatic Springboks add to their 1995, 2007 and 2019 accolades.
Injuries and an unprecedented red card told the story of the opening 40 in Saint-Denis, as South Africa waved a painful goodbye to Bongi Mbonambi after just three minutes following a dangerous tackle by Shannon Frizell, who was sent to the sin bin.
Deon Fourie was brought into the fray to replace the stricken Mbonambi, who earlier this week faced no further action over an alleged racist comment towards England’s Tom Curry, as Handre Pollard registered the first points of the final with his penalty off the post.
Thankfully for New Zealand, Frizell was cleared to come back on the pitch, and the 14 men only ceded another three points through a second Pollard penalty before getting on the board through Richie Mo’unga’s kick in the 17th minute, although Ardie Savea came agonisingly close to a try in the previous play.
Savea’s frustrations continued as he gave away a third Springboks penalty in the 20th minute, which Pollard duly dispatched before New Zealand captain Sam Cane found himself on the wrong side of World Cup final history.
The All Blacks captain was penalised for a high challenge on Jesse Kriel, crashing into the 29-year-old’s face with his shoulder, and following a TMO review which concluded no mitigation, Cane received the first-ever red card in a Rugby World Cup final.
Cane cut an expressionless figure on the sidelines as Pollard kicked penalty number four, but the 14 men of New Zealand were centimetres away from stunning the holders with a 37th-minute try in the corner, but Kurt-Lee Arendse made a splendid last-ditch tackle to stop Rieko Ioane in his tracks.
Ian Foster’s team had the penalty advantage, though, and Mo’unga made no mistake to cut South Africa’s lead down to 12-6 – the same score at half time during the Springboks’ 2019 final victory over England – and the Springboks came out all guns blazing following the interval.
Arendse latched onto a corner-bound grubber kick in the 45th minute, and a few in the stadium thought that the 27-year-old had registered the first try of the final, but the ball slipped from his grasp as he launched himself over the line.
The playing field was then evened for 10 minutes as South Africa captain Siya Kolisi went to the naughty step for a high tackle on Savea, and the All Blacks oh so nearly took full advantage as Smith dived over in the 54th minute following a brilliant dummy and run from Mo’unga on the left, but the try was disallowed for a Savea knock-on at the line-out.https://fbf97a849163480fd69e700e48feff33.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-40/html/container.html?n=0
However, New Zealand piled on the pressure in the 22 and worked the ball out to Telea in the 58th minute, and the Blues man managed to flick the ball to Beauden Barrett on his way to the turf for the full-back to dart through.
Barrett’s try was awarded despite replays seeming to show Telea’s pass going forwards, but South Africa maintained their lead nonetheless, as Mo’unga sent his conversion attempt wide from a difficult position.
Despite boasting the extra man, South Africa looked far from settled, and a deliberate knock-on from Cheslin Kolbe in the 73rd minute meant that the contest would end 14v14, but Jordie Barrett could not find the mark with his speculative penalty as the Springboks retained their slender lead.
A spirited New Zealand side refused to give up the ghost, but there was to be no magic moment for the depleted All Blacks, who end a World Cup as runners-up for just the second time after also losing the 1995 final to the Springboks.
