Substitutes Handre Pollard, RG Snyman and Ox Nche combined to steal a late 16-15 victory for South Africa over England in a scrappy but tense semifinal in Paris last night, booking a spot in Saturday’s Rugby World Cup final against the All Blacks.
The spoils next weekend are glory and history — both South Africa and arch-rivals New Zealand are bidding to raise the Webb Ellis trophy aloft for an unprecedented fourth time at the Stade de France.
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The last and only time these two sides met in a final was at Ellis Park in 1995, when flyhalf Joel Stransky kicked the winning drop goal to give Francois Pienaar’s World Cup pioneers a 15-12 victory.
The Springboks, the defending champions, are also looking to join the All Blacks as the only side to have won two consecutive Rugby World Cup crowns.
To date the Springboks have reached three finals and won them all, while New Zealand have made it to four and triumphed in three.
Between them these two teams have won the past four tournaments. The last time any other side topped the podium was 20 years ago, when a once-mighty England outlasted Australia in Sydney.
The 2023 edition of England, that had looked so weak in the build-up to the World Cup, losing three of four warm-up games, gave the Springboks a fright.
They led 12-6 at halftime and when their captain and bad boy Owen Farrell slotted a long-range drop in the 53rd minute, the Boks were in trouble.
Some might blame the rain and referee, but the bottom line is that the Boks, pushed to the limits in their victory over France last Sunday, just failed to fire until the final quarter.
And it was the substitutes who transformed this nightmare into an unbelievable dream. Lock Snyman scored the only try of the match and flyhalf Pollard converted and then kicked the winning penalty with two minutes to go from a scrum penalty that was won by prop Nche, who has been an irresistible force in France.
It’s been two nail-biting, late one-point victories by South Africa in a row. And now for a final that will be the 106th contest against New Zealand. The Kiwis lead 62-39, with four draws. But the Rugby World Cup statistics are more even, with the All Blacks up 3-2.
The Boks won their first two Cup games against the All Blacks, the 1995 final and the playoff for third in 1999. But New Zealand have taken the last three, winning the 2003 quarterfinal 29-9, the 2015 semifinal 20-18 and the group encounter in Japan 23-13.
South Africa won their most recent encounter, a warm-up for this tournament, 35-7 at Twickenham. The New Zealand team that dominated Argentina 44-6 in Friday’s semifinal featured six changes in the match 23 to the one beaten by South Africa.
Yet the prospect of a Springbok-All Black final showdown seemed almost impossible at one stage during the group matches, where hosts France and world No 1 Ireland had beaten the two giants of the Southern Hemisphere.
France crushed the All Blacks 27-13 in the tournament opener and a fortnight later Ireland beat the Boks 13-8.
Then came the reversals of fortune last weekend as Six Nations hopes of glory went south in two spectacular nights of rugby — New Zealand ousted the Irish 28-24 and South Africa edged hosts France 29-28.
And last night the Springboks snuffed out the last flicker of the Northern lights to stretch their overall lead over England to 28-16, with two draws. Since 2007 South Africa have dominated them 15-4 with a single draw.
In the six Rugby World Cup matches contested by these two since they first met at the same Stade de France battleground in 1999, South Africa lead 5-1. The overall scoreline now reads 149-79.
Last night’s victory added a cherry to the double whipping South Africa handed to England yesterday after the Proteas creamed the Lions by 229 runs at their World Cup in Mumbai earlier in the day.
South African fans, including expats with little faith in the political bosses, descended on the Stade de France united by a team that embodies the true spirit of the Rainbow Nation.
English supporters may have ruled the stands with their Swing Low Sweet Chariot, but the Springboks owned the key moments in the final stages to keep a nation believing for yet another week.
Now it’s the Springboks versus the All Blacks in the final. Not even PT Barnum could drum up the hype that this rivalry carries.
And with the extra spice on Saturday, only one team will come fourth in triumph.
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