2023 Rugby World Cup Final

It marked the culmination of the 2023 Rugby World Cup and was played between New Zealand and South Africa, with the latter winning by a single point to claim their fourth Webb Ellis Cup, becoming the first nation to do so. South Africa became the first team to ever win back to back Rugby World Cup tournaments away from home, with Siya Kolisi the first ever captain to accomplish the away double.

2023 Rugby World Cup final

Stade de France hosted the final
Event	2023 Rugby World Cup
New Zealand South Africa 11 12
Date	28 October 2023
Venue	Stade de France, Saint-Denis
Player of the match	Pieter-Steph du Toit (South Africa)
Referee	Wayne Barnes (England)
Attendance	80,065
Weather	Cloudy 15 °C (59 °F) 82% humidity
← 2019 2027 →

New Zealand and South Africa last played in a Rugby World Cup final in 1995, which South Africa won 15–12. The two sides had met in five previous World Cup encounters with New Zealand winning three and South Africa winning two. This was the first time that both finalists had already lost a game during the World Cup. For New Zealand this was a record fifth appearance in a final, while South Africa made a fourth appearance and also entered having never lost in a final. The final saw South Africa win a record fourth World Cup title, with both sides having already won the World Cup on three occasions.

New Zealand		Round	South Africa
Pool A		Pool stage	Pool B
Opponent	Result		Opponent	Result
France	13–27	Match 1	Scotland	18–3
Namibia	71–3	Match 2	Romania	76–0
Italy	96–17	Match 3	Ireland	8–13
Uruguay	73–0	Match 4	Tonga	49–18
Pos Team v t e Pld W D L PF PA TF TA B Pts 1   France (H) 4 4 0 0 210 32 27 5 2 18 2   New Zealand 4 3 0 1 253 47 38 4 3 15 3   Italy 4 2 0 2 114 181 15 25 2 10 4   Uruguay 4 1 0 3 65 164 9 21 1 5 5   Namibia 4 0 0 4 37 255 3 37 0 0 Source: World Rugby Rules for classification: Pool stage tiebreakers (H) Host		Final standing	Pos Team v t e Pld W D L PF PA TF TA B Pts 1   Ireland 4 4 0 0 190 46 27 5 3 19 2   South Africa 4 3 0 1 151 34 22 4 3 15 3   Scotland 4 2 0 2 146 71 21 10 2 10 4   Tonga 4 1 0 3 96 177 13 25 1 5 5   Romania 4 0 0 4 32 287 4 43 0 0 Source: World Rugby Rules for classification: Pool stage tiebreakers
Opponent	Result	Knockout stage	Opponent	Result
Ireland	28–24	Quarter-finals	France	29–28
Argentina	44–6	Semi-finals	England	16–15

New Zealand

 

New Zealand began their World Cup campaign with a defeat to hosts France in the opening match of the tournament. They would put that result behind them as they went on to win by a considerable margin in all of their remaining pool matches to qualify for the knockout stage, with a 71–3 victory over Namibia, 96–17 against Italy, and 73–0 against Uruguay. In the quarter-finals, New Zealand faced Pool B winners and number 1 ranked in the world Ireland, where they came out winners in a tight affair with a scoreline of 28–24. In the semi-final at the Stade de France, New Zealand played Argentina, where The All Blacks defeated Los Pumas 44–6 to reach their fifth Rugby World Cup final, a record as they went ahead of Australia and England who had both reached four finals. The All Blacks were also looking for their record fourth Rugby World Cup title, having won in 1987 followed by victories in 2011 and 2015.

South Africa

Defending champions South Africa had reached what was their fourth Rugby World Cup final following a spell of tight margins in the lead up. The Springboks had managed to breeze through Pool B, where despite falling at the Ireland hurdle in a 13–8 defeat, they secured victories over Scotland, Romania, and Tonga to finish second in the pool and advance to the knockout stage. In the quarter-finals, they faced the hosts France, who had topped Pool A ahead of New Zealand. In a World Cup thriller at the Stade de France, South Africa overcame their French counterparts with a 29–28 victory. In the semi-final, South Africa played England, in a repeat of the 2007 and 2019 final. In another tight affair in Saint-Denis, South Africa completed a comeback through a late Handré Pollard penalty to win 16–15 and advance to their fourth Rugby World Cup final where they would attempt to defend their trophy.

Summary

First half

In the 2nd minute, New Zealand's Shannon Frizell received a yellow card for falling on top of the leg of Bongi Mbonambi. Mbonambi was forced off for the remainder of the match with a knee injury. South Africa went on to take a 6–0 lead with two penalties converted by Handré Pollard before Richie Mo'unga scored for New Zealand with a penalty after 17 minutes. Pollard scored another penalty two minutes later to make it 9–3. In the 28th minute, New Zealand's captain Sam Cane was given a yellow card for a high shoulder tackle to the head of South Africa's Jesse Kriel which was later upgraded to a red card after a bunker review. Pollard scored another penalty in the 34th minute before Mo'unga replied with his second penalty to leave the score 12–6 at half-time.

Second half

In the 45th minute, South African captain Siya Kolisi received a yellow card for a head high tackle on Ardie Savea which was also reviewed for a potential red card. On review, it remained a yellow card. In the 54th minute, New Zealand thought that they had scored a try. Aaron Smith went over the try line in the left corner. However, the TMO review showed that the ball had been knocked on by Ardie Savea before it was released from the initial lineout. They did get a try in the 58th minute. Beauden Barrett went over the try line on the left after an offload from Mark Telea, Richie Mo'unga missed the conversion from the left that would have put New Zealand in front. With 7 minutes to go, Cheslin Kolbe received a yellow card for a deliberate knock on and New Zealand missed the critical penalty to seal their victory. South Africa held on to win 12–11 and claim their fourth World Cup title.

Details

28 October 2023 21:00 CEST (UTC+2)

New Zealand	11–12	South Africa
Try: B. Barrett 58' m Pen: Mo'unga (2/2) 17', 38'	Report	Pen: Pollard (4/4) 3', 13', 19', 34'

Stade de France, Saint-Denis Attendance: 80,065 Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)

New Zealand

South Africa

FB 15 Beauden Barrett RW 14 Will Jordan   71' OC 13 Rieko Ioane IC 12 Jordie Barrett LW 11 Mark Telea FH 10 Richie Mo'unga   75' SH 9 Aaron Smith   66' N8 8 Ardie Savea OF 7 Sam Cane (c)   27' BF 6 Shannon Frizell   2'   55' RL 5 Scott Barrett LL 4 Brodie Retallick   71' TP 3 Tyrel Lomax   66' HK 2 Codie Taylor   66' LP 1 Ethan de Groot   66' Replacements: HK 16 Samisoni Taukei'aho   66' PR 17 Tamaiti Williams   66' PR 18 Nepo Laulala   66' LK 19 Sam Whitelock   55' FL 20 Dalton Papalii   71' SH 21 Finlay Christie   66' FB 22 Damian McKenzie   75' CE 23 Anton Lienert-Brown   71' Coach:   Ian Foster

FB 15 Damian Willemse   66' RW 14 Kurt-Lee Arendse OC 13 Jesse Kriel IC 12 Damian de Allende LW 11 Cheslin Kolbe   73' FH 10 Handré Pollard SH 9 Faf de Klerk N8 8 Duane Vermeulen   58' BF 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit OF 6 Siya Kolisi (c)   45'   73' RL 5 Franco Mostert   52' LL 4 Eben Etzebeth   58' TP 3 Frans Malherbe   66' HK 2 Bongi Mbonambi   4' LP 1 Steven Kitshoff   52' Replacements: HK 16 Deon Fourie   4' PR 17 Ox Nché   52' PR 18 Trevor Nyakane   66' LK 19 Jean Kleyn   58' LK 20 RG Snyman   52' FL 21 Kwagga Smith   58' N8 22 Jasper Wiese   73' FB 23 Willie le Roux   66' Coach:   Jacques Nienaber

Notes:

• South Africa became the first team to win a fourth World Cup title.
• South Africa became the first team to win successive World Cup titles away from home.
• South Africa became the second team (after New Zealand in 2015) to retain the World Cup.
• This was the third time that the World Cup final winner earned their victory without scoring a try – a feat previously achieved by South Africa in 1995 and 2007.
• Sam Cane (New Zealand) became the first player to receive a red card in a World Cup final.
• The four cards issued in the match (one red and three yellows) set a new record for most cards issued in a World Cup final. There had been just one card issued across the previous nine finals – a yellow card against New Zealand's Ben Smith in 2015.
• This was the first World Cup final in which both finalists had lost a match during the pool stages.
• This was the first World Cup final in which all four match officials were appointed from the same union (England).
• Brothers Beauden Barrett, Jordie Barrett and Scott Barrett all started for New Zealand – the first time that three siblings played in a World Cup final.
• Beauden Barrett (New Zealand) became the first player to score a try in 2 separate Rugby World Cup finals, having scored a try in the 2015 RWC Final and another try in the 2023 RWC Final.

Statistics

• History of rugby union matches between New Zealand and South Africa