South Africa’s Remarkable Performance in Rugby World Cup 2023
South Africa’s dominance in the Rugby World Cup continued in Paris, where they secured their fourth title with a nerve-wracking 12-11 victory over New Zealand.
This remarkable achievement has sparked discussions about whether they are the greatest team in the tournament’s history. Let’s explore some of the key statistics from the Springboks’ successful campaign in France.
South Africa’s perfect record in World Cup finals remains intact, having won all four of their appearances. It’s even more impressive considering they didn’t participate in the first two tournaments.
Their World Cup journey began in 1995 when they hosted the event, and they’ve now won four out of the eight tournaments they’ve entered.
Notably, they have a flawless 100% winning record in World Cup finals, defeating New Zealand twice (in 1995 and 2023) and England twice (in 2007 and 2019).
What’s astonishing is that they’ve achieved these victories while scoring only two tries in total, both occurring in their 32-12 win over England in 2019.
In the 2023 final, Beauden Barrett scored the first try against the Springboks in a World Cup final. South Africa is the second team to secure back-to-back World Cup wins, and they did so with both tournaments held overseas, a first in the tournament’s history.
Fourteen of the 23 players who featured in the 2023 final were also part of the 2019 championship-winning team. The recent victories have been nail-biters, with the last three games all decided by a single point, a situation that wasn’t planned, as head coach Jacques Nienaber admitted.
The aggregate margin of victory in the knockout stage for South Africa was just three points, the smallest ever for a World Cup winner. In comparison, previous champions had much larger margins of victory.
In the final against New Zealand, despite the Kiwis having the upper hand in territory and ball possession, the Springboks’ defense excelled, making a remarkable 209 tackles, their highest tally in the 2023 tournament.
Pieter-Steph du Toit, the Player of the Match, led the way with a match-high 28 tackles. Handre Pollard’s boot was also pivotal, with a 100% record from the tee, scoring all 12 of his points in the first 34 minutes.
South Africa’s path to victory was far from easy, as they faced some of the world’s top-ranked teams, including Ireland, Scotland, France, England, and New Zealand. Despite an initial loss to Ireland, their wins over Scotland and subsequent hard-fought victories over France, England, and New Zealand led them to yet another World Cup triumph.
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