South Africa 12 (12) New Zealand 11 (6)
The Springboks just don’t know the meaning of giving up. They have forgotten how to lose and on an icy Parisian night, they dug deeper than ever to edge a courageous 14-man New Zealand 12-11 to become the first four-time Rugby World Cup winners.
Handré Pollard scored all his team’s points with four first-half penalties, but it was a smothering defensive effort that won the day. The indefatigable Pieter-Steph du Toit led the line with a scarcely believable 28 tackles in a match that had everything.
Du Toit was sensational in every facet of the game, carrying, supporting, chasing high kicks and taking lineouts. His display was the singular embodiment of the collective effort that yielded a third-straight one-point playoff win at the 2023 tournament.
The plan by Rassie Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber to win Rugby World Cup 2023 was fulfilled by the narrowest of margins. But no one can say they are not worthy champions because they displayed the character of champions in so many dark moments in this tournament.
A red card for All Black skipper Sam Cane for a high shot on Jesse Kriel in the 29th minute was deserved and shaped the game but with the Boks also earning two yellow cards, it was perhaps not as decisive as it might have been.
At the time Cane was yellow-carded with the nasty hit on Kriel heading to the bunker for review, it looked as if the match might be getting away from the All Blacks. They were on the ropes, but they dug in and caused no end of problems for the Boks in the second half.
The Boks, as they have done many times in the past, failed to put the All Blacks away and the longer the black wall repelled them, the greater the sense of foreboding for Bok fans. They’ve seen this movie before and any failure to bury the men in black when you have the chance, ends in tears.
But this time, because it was these Boks, who play with so much inner strength, fiery hearts, yet cool heads, it ended with tears of joy. It wasn’t always pretty, but it was beautiful.
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