South Africa’s 2023 World Cup journey

South Africa winning the Rugby World Cup was not something people had their money on at the beginning of the tournament in September. With teams such as Ireland (the world’s number one), and host nation France, looking by far the most dominant teams to enter the tournament, it looked like an impossible mountain for South Africa to climb.

South Africa were the reigning champions going into the tournament, after beating England 32-12 in Japan four years earlier. Only 10 of the 2019 winning squad were retained and were to play in the 2023 tournament.

South Africa was drawn into group B with world number one Ireland, as well as Scotland, Tonga and Romania. The Springboks managed to win 3 of their group games, with their only loss being to Ireland, but they managed to finish in second place in the group standings after beating Tonga comfortably 49-18 in the final group match. This resulted in South Africa being drawn against the much fancied French team in the quarter-finals.

The knockout games are where teams either made it or failed, if any team wanted a chance at winning the title, they all needed 3 games of max performance in a row.  In the quarterfinals, the Springboks were to face their most difficult game of the entire tournament, facing up against host nation France. The biggest news in the run-up to the game was that Rugby Player of the Year winner, Antoine Dupont, would be back in the French squad after recovering from injury.  Dupont is a player who has the individual ability to win the quarter-final for France, however, they underestimated the South African team. 

The match was to be played in the Stade de France. As the kickoff whistle blew, South Africa came under immediate pressure from the French and conceded a try in the early minutes of the game. The Springboks instantly countered with a try of their own, winning the ball from a French ruck.  Rienach took a box kick which fell perfectly for Arendse to collect on the bounce and run through unopposed for the try.

The game continued at a tremendous pace, with both teams constantly attacking the other’s 22. South Africa managed to get past the French wall though, de Allende received a feed from Reinach and charged over the line for the Springbok’s second try of the game. France instantly responded with Dupont taking a quick penalty, passing out to Mauvaka who ran through South Africa’s defence for the French’s second try.  The conversion, however, did not add points to put France in the lead, as a brilliant charge down from Cheslin Kolbe blocked Thomas Ramos’s attempt at the posts.  South Africa then went on to get their third try of the game as a lovely chip from Jesse Kriel put Kolbe sprinting over the line.  France responded again and got their third try of the game when Baille crossed the line after a brilliant run. Near the end of the first half, Eben Etzebeth picked up a yellow from clashing heads with one of the French players, which conceded a penalty to France and put them in the lead at the break.

After halftime, the intensity of the game stayed the same, but the scoreboard had slowed down. Both teams were showing great defensive performances, letting neither team gain any points. The only points France gained in the second half came from two converted penalties from Ramos.

Handré Pollard (returning from injury) converted a penalty of his own. Etzebeth was now back on the pitch after serving his sin bin sentence. He immediately charged through the French defensive line after some great link-up play from South Africa and scored the 4th try of the game. Pollard’s conversion was enough to give South Africa the lead by only 1 point, but this was all they needed to win as the final whistle blew. South Africa would now advance to the semifinals and would send France out of the competition. 

In the other quarter-finals, New Zealand had beaten tournament favourites Ireland 28-24, and would now face Argentina, who beat Wales 29-17. England also beat Fiji 30-24, to advance them further in their World Cup journey, however, they would face South Africa in their next match…

In the match between the Springboks and England, South Africa looked outplayed by England for the entire first half.  Lineouts weren’t working, lots of slip-ups and dropped balls, knock-ons, etc.  All of the points scored in the first half so far were from penalties, Farrell converting 4 and Libbok scoring a penalty for the Springboks. The Springbok coaches decided to make a huge decision to sub Libbok after 30 minutes and put Pollard on, as they were unimpressed with Libbok’s performance. Pollard was brought on and converted his first penalty kick to bring the score to 12-6 at the halftime whistle.

As the second half began it was clear that England was still the more dominant side. They consistently snuffed out any chance of South Africa getting points in the game. Farrell then showed his class as he blasted in a drop goal from 45 meters out in the 53rd minute to bring the score to 15-6. Following a chain of scrum penalties, Snyman broke through the English line and gave South Africa the first try of the match. Pollard scored the conversion to bring the points to 15-13 with 10 minutes left on the clock. In the final minutes of the game, England conceded another scrum penalty to South Africa. Pollard was the one to kick and scored the penalty with the final kick of the game to give South Africa the win 15-16. This meant that they now had the opportunity to become consecutive World Cup winners. The only other team to do this is their main rivals, New Zealand.

It was no surprise to anyone that New Zealand would beat Argentina, winning 44-6 against the Pumas.  This win did mean that we’d see a final between the two biggest teams in world rugby.  Spanning back decades, the rivalry between South Africa and New Zealand has always been a spectacle to watch.  They were the only teams to ever win 3 World Cup trophies.  What made this upcoming final special was the fact that whoever won the final, would be the first team to ever win 4 World Cup titles. 

The kickoff whistle had blown to begin the final match of the tournament. Not even 3 minutes in and the All-Blacks had been reduced to 14 men as a yellow card had been shown to Frizell for falling on top of Bongi Mbonambi’s leg. Pollard got the first points on the board as he scored the penalty kick.  Another penalty was awarded to South Africa and Pollard converted again meaning the score now sat at 6-0 in the 12th minute.  New Zealand were given a chance to score after South Africa gave away a penalty to the Kiwis. Mo’unga converted and made the score 6-3. 

One piece of history was made during the game; Sam Cane had been sent off for a dangerous tackle to the head of Jesse Kriel, however, after a TMO review, it was upgraded to a red card for high levels of danger with little mitigation. This is the first red card ever to be given out in a World Cup final and would now leave New Zealand permanently a man down.

Nearing the end of the half, Pollard got his 4th score from a penalty in the game to make it 12-3, but after this South Africa conceded another penalty. Mo’unga scores again to put the score 12-6 at halftime.

The second half began and both teams continued their onslaught of attacking and defending. A few minutes in Siya Kolisi, the Springbok captain, had given himself a yellow card after a dangerous tackle. This meant that both teams were now a man down. New Zealand immediately capitalized off of this as they went and scored the first try of the game with the scrum-half Aaron Taylor Smith. However, this was ruled out as Savea had knocked the ball on earlier in the buildup play. This decision was considered highly controversial as it took a long time for the referee to decide if the try could be given or not. This decision was also pivotal in the game’s final score. 

The final 20 minutes were now in action and New Zealand finally got their try. Barrett powered through and scored a great try in the corner, giving the All-Blacks a sliver of hope, however, Mo’unga missed the crucial conversion that would’ve given them the lead. 

In the final 8 minutes of the game an intentional knock-on from Cheslin Kolbe meant he got a yellow card and South Africa would now be down to 14 men once again and would remain this way until the end of the match.  Jordie Barrett had the chance to win the game for New Zealand with the penalty from Kolbe’s knock-on, but he missed it. 

The final whistle blew, and South Africa were champions again. The Springboks fended New Zealand off brilliantly to win the game and crucially win a consecutive World Cup. They now tie the record with New Zealand for consecutive wins but have overtaken them in having the most World Cup wins, meaning they are the most successful team in World Rugby. It’ll be interesting to see if they can win a third in a row during the next tournament…