They defeated England in the final by a comfortable margin of 32-12. Up to the 66th minute of regular time, the points were entirely made up of penalty goals with South Africa leading by 18-12. Then in the last 15 minutes, they scored two tries and converted them to put the game out of England’s reach.
In the other match on Friday, New Zealand easily beat Wales 40-17 to take third place. This game was far more open and attacking than the final.
SA just physically too much for England. Worthy champions.
It was as I wondered -- England trained for specific tactic against a specific team and executed it well, having thought they’d be playing the All Blacks in the final.
But they didn’t, and they weren’t prepared for South Africa who are, thankfully, getting back to their historic abilities after a few fallow years.
And Wales had the perfectly reasonable thought of engaging in open running rugby, now that the final was lost to them, so as to play a more memorable game which they hope to get better at -- more risk, more fun, more reward win or lose.
It’s got tight at the top, which is good for the game.
It seems remarkable that RSA have as many World Cups as NZ, especially considering that they missed the first two due to Apartheid. Yes, they have been a Rugby powerhouse, but given the status of the All-Blacks in NZ, the Kiwis would be a bit miffed at being behind in percentage terms.
We like South Africa -- they’re the only team that consistently matches the All Blacks. Up until recent times the Springboks and All Blacks had a near 50/50 record against each other (well, nearly), it’s only the last ten years or so South Africa have noticeably slipped behind (but the All Black team 2009 ~ 2017 was something special).
NZ likes South African rugby -- we can’t be the best without their kind of testing of our team. It’s good they’re getting back on form.
People get too hung up on the world Cup -- yes, the All Blacks should have won more, but having to win the last three or four games in a row is hard, even having a 80%+ winning record only makes that a 50/50 chance. The All blacks lost their last World Cup game, but they won the eighteen or so before that. Losing happens sometimes -- if it didn’t it’d be a poor game to play with little point.