South Africa won the 2023 Rugby World Cup final beating New Zealand by 12-11 in an enthralling match at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, near Paris, on October 28.
The seven-week, 20-team, 48-game rugby extravaganza ended with South Africa winning a record-breaking fourth Rugby World Cup (RWC). With Saturday’s win, it became only the second team to retain the title. It has never been beaten in a RWC final, and continues to be the only team that has beaten the All Blacks at that stage, now for the second time.
Handre Pollard scored all of South Africa’s points to retain their RWC title in Paris. The team won by a point in each of the quarter-final, semi-final, and final matches. Pollard only joined the team on September 18, after he missed out initial selection. He was awarded a place in the team due to Malcolm Marx’s injury.
New Zealand missed out on being the first to four by the slimmest of margins in the final. All Blacks captain Sam Cane had to watch most of it from the sidelines after he was sent off in the game.
