Rugby World Cup 2023 - Final

South Africa 12 - 11 New Zealand

New Zealand scored the only try, but South Africa won their fourth Rugby World Cup and became the greatest World Cup winning rugby team of all time.

New Zealand had their chances. They failed to convert the one try and had a 50 metre penalty kick that went wide. Either of these kicks would have put NZ in front.

South Africa never really looked like scoring a try, but they defended resolutely, and had physical dominance for much of the game, especially in the first half. They had NZ playing their game.

NZ did not play well in key areas. Its ball handling was flawed with too many players taking their eye off the ball. And NZ did not ring the changes when adjustments were needed. It looked to me as if the team had decided to make replacements at appointed times and they just stuck to that. When replacements were made, they had an instant impact, but not enough minutes to turn that into points. 

Here's my way of looking at it: when the NZ captain, Sam Cane was off for good, they needed to inject Sam Whitelock at that point, to level the ship and provide experience and leadership. Then, at halftime, change the first five eighth (fly half), and early in the second half, off comes the halfback Aaron Smith and the winger Will Jordan.

My main gripe, however, is with the refereeing and the direction the game is taking. The referees have too much influence on the game. Both teams received two yellow cards. The NZ captain had his yellow upgraded to red and so NZ was down to 14 men for the rest of the match. But, the South Africa captain also received a yellow for head to head contact, and yet this did not get upgraded. Inconsistency such as this has got to be sorted. Did this matter in the end? Probably not, as South Africa received its next yellow soon after the South Africa captain came back on, so for the remainder of the match they were down to 14 men as well, it became a 14 man contest.

Once the game is reduced to 14 men, teams must adjust and this influences how teams play, which lessens the spectator experience. If teams had stayed at 15 men apiece, the score may have ended the same, but the fans would see a proper game, not one that resembles a shambles. 

For New Zealand, the plus is that this team even made the final. Leading in to this tournament, many considered them to be the worst All Blacks team in a long time. So, they achieved above expectations, but looking ahead, the new coach Scott Robertson has to introduce his brand of rugby and get things back on track.