Name your player: Handre Pollard, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Deon Fourie, Eben Etzebeth, Frans Malherbe, Franco Mostert, Duane Vermeulen...
Du Toit and Fourie. The former made 27 tackles in 75 minutes. The latter, a 37 year-old flanker, played 77 minutes as a hooker.
The big guy — Pollard. He never missed a kick. The All Blacks missed a conversion and a penalty.
That was the difference. Pick your player, but also pick the moment when New Zealand captain Sam Cane got a yellow card, upgraded to a red card, for a head tackle on Jessie Kriel, that was not even referred to for an HIA Test.
Less than a point has separated these two teams since 2018, but 14 can’t play 15. These All Blacks would do well to compete with the Boks when 15 play 15. They played 22 minutes of the first half 14 on 15, and most of the match 14 on 15.
Against a lesser opponent, they may still have found something magical, but against these mongrels from South Africa, it needed them to have a player more and a charitable referee.
They had neither. Englishman Wayne Barnes is the world’s best referee, but last night his boxer shorts may have been a bit more green than black but then he settled.
The All Blacks, the poets of world rugby, just were not allowed to play. The Boks were brutal in everything, tackle after tackle and the big hits did not come bigger than from Du Toit
Siya Kolisi got binned on 45 minutes and Cheslin Kolbe got yellow carded on 72 minutes.
Once again it was even numbers, at different times, and it was a contest, at different times, with less than a converted score separating the two teams with less than 30 minutes to play.
The Springboks, champions in 2019, were too physical and too strong for the All Blacks in the first hour. Cards continued to play havoc with this contest.
The All Blacks were brave, proud and resolute when a player down, but in a collision sport, they were always second best in contact in that opening 45 minutes. And when they lost their enforcer Shannon Frazell in the second minute — because of his tackle on Bongi Mbonambi — they were digging deep just to stay in the contest.
The All Blacks, the poets of world rugby, just were not allowed to play. The Boks were brutal in everything, tackle after tackle and the big hits did not come bigger than from Du Toit.
The All Blacks thought they had a first ever World Cup final try against the Boks in the 53rd minute when Aaron Smith scored from Richie Mo’unga’s magical run but the try was disallowed, and in the resulting action, the All Blacks still failed to score.
The period from 40 to 56 minutes was insane in terms of intensity. The All Blacks scored, thanks to the work rate of left wing Mark Telea, but they still trailed 12-11. Please be reminded that over 10 Tests since 2018, the Boks led New Zealand7-24 on average, and after 81 minutes in this World Cup final, the Boks led the All Blacks 12-11.
These two teams had both won three World Cup final titles, more than any other nation. It needed something from an individual to separate the two teams and in between minutes 60 and 65 replacement flank Kwagga Smith came up with two ridiculous turnovers. This was the clash of the titans.
The two greatest teams in the world, with the two most contrasting styles. If you know football, you will know that this was Brazil versus Germany. And the Boks are not Brazil. Which does not mean they aren’t great at what they do. They are, and last night they were true to their rugby DNA.
The Boks were dominant in the collision, and they were strong in the tackle. Pollard was 100% off the kicking tee. New Zealand were not. How did anyone critique this guy?
This is the kid who started in the under 20 World Cup final against New Zealand at Newlands as a schoolboy in 2012 and kicked them to victory. A decade later, he was as imposing in a World Cup final, against New Zealand, in the City of Love.
