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The All Blacks outplayed the Springboks in the World Cup final
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They say that history is written by the victors, and that is certainly true with Chasing the Sun 2 highlighting the story of the Springboks’ successful 2023 Rugby World Cup campaign.
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The Springboks are the 2023 Rugby World Cup winners.
But what is the context of the 12-11 victory over the All Blacks in the final? Was it an emphatic victory demonstrating great rugby prowess? A win built on great defence? Or were they outplayed by a team down to 14-men for 80 per cent of the final?
This is the other side of the coin, the full picture of the game that paints a rather hollow victory for a side that now lays claim to ‘world’s best’.
The Springboks came to play with a high pressure defence that certainly made an impact early in the game.
They were on top early no doubt, Richie Mo’unga was under fire and errors came. The second lineout launch play was botched, leading to a 25 metre net loss, the Shannon Frizell penalty, and a yellow card.
South Africa successfully controlled the gain line and slowed down the ruck speed as the soggy conditions under foot allowed, and used their kicking game to take control of territory.
The Springboks won the first 15 minutes and built a 6-0 lead as a result, at a time where Frizell was off the pitch.
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Back to a full compliment the All Blacks built some momentum and created the first try-scoring opportunity of the game.
They had the Springboks beat with a deft chip by Jordie Barrett that cruelly bounced out of the path of Ardie Savea. Instead of seven they settled for three.
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At 9-3, a critical three points were gifted to South Africa from a legitimate steal at the ruck by Ardie Savea that was penalised.
Despite going behind 12-3, the All Blacks continued to climb back into the arm wrestle and win another possession inside their 22.
Then came the game-changing moment which was not picked up in real-time, where Sam Cane made high contact on Jesse Kriel. Nearly a full two minutes of game clock elapsed before it was reviewed. After being binned, Cane would be upgraded to red and would not return.
The All Blacks still won the final 10 minutes of the first half with a piece of cynical play by Eben Etzebeth robbing the All Blacks of a try-scoring chance.
Coming from an offside position Etzebeth obstructed the pass after the All Blacks had made a line break.
The All Blacks had front foot ball after the line break and a four-on-one overlap with no defending fullback, who was at the bottom of the last ruck.
Etzebeth knew exactly what he was doing and killed the opportunity with cynical, illegal play by running an interfering line.
The penalty awarded is not fit punishment for the crime of this magnitude. This chance maybe comes a handful of times in a Test, even less so in a World Cup final.
The All Blacks would rate themselves a better than 50 per cent chance of finishing this phase off with a try.
Instead they settled for Mo’unga’s second penalty goal and went to the sheds down 12-6 and down a man.
The All Blacks would come out and completely dominate the Springboks from 45 minutes onward.
So how much credit can ultimately be given to South Africa’s hard-nosed defence when they had a one-man advantage for over half of the game?
Shouldn’t it be expected that the opposition would be shut down in the second half?
Even with yellow cards to Siya Kolisi and Cheslin Kolbe, South Africa played 15 vs 14 for most of the contest taking into account Frizell’s time in the bin.
Despite Aaron Smith’s try being overruled by TMO error, the ball was live and the Springboks defence was beaten by Richie Mo’unga dancing around Damian de Allende and setting up his halfback.
All that work was undone by a TMO stepping outside his jurisdiction going past four phases to make a call on a knock-on that Wayne Barnes had ruled was okay.
So New Zealand had to do it again, and did, when Mark Telea beat a handful of Bok defenders on the left wing to provide an offload back to fullback Beauden Barrett to dive over.
If the first try was in fact upheld, it would have changed the complexion of the game from that point on and Barrett’s try might not have eventuated.
But by the same token, the All Blacks may have taken the lead 13-12. The Aaron Smith try was closer to the posts by 3-4 metres, giving Mo’unga a slightly higher chance of converting his kick.
The fact is that two tries were scored during live play. The Boks defence was broken, make no bones about it.
The Springboks benefitted greatly from the official error by buying more time, the All Blacks burnt another five minutes to cross the second time. In a one-point game that matters.
Let’s consider the 8-7 win by New Zealand over France in the 2011 Rugby World Cup final, decided by the same margin.
The All Blacks were fortuitous in a number of ways to claim the result in that game, it’s not deniable.
But France did not play with 14 men for 64 minutes of the contest. France did not crack the All Blacks try line twice for just one try, France did not miss two lead-taking kicks in the second half.
South Africa’s luck in 2023 looks like Mt Everest compared to New Zealand’s good fortune in 2011.
The Springboks were the better side in just two areas of the game, the aerial contests, where the All Blacks were poor, and goal kicking, where Handre Pollard knocked over four from four. That’s really it.
The Springboks’ set-piece was dominated, their defence was unlocked multiple times, their try line was broken twice, they committed cynical acts of play to survive on more than one occasion. And they had an extra man.
The story of this game is that the All Blacks nearly won despite doing what they could to lose it, and the Springboks just took the trophy by default. It might be the most unimpressive escape of all-time.
Had the All Blacks had 15 on the pitch and the final score remained 12-11, you could argue the Springboks’ defensive performance warrants being called heroic.
But the Boks were outplayed comprehensively by a team with less players and clung on for a hollow win in the most important game of the four-year cycle.
The Springboks are the 2023 Rugby World Cup champions as a result. They won the game, that’s sport.
But that’s the context for how they won. Let’s not forget that or we may need to put an asterisk on it as a reminder.
