Peter Jackson: South Africa make history becoming first team to win four World Cups
Cup The Crombie Rugby Celebrate ©inpho/james Winning Pic: Africa History Makers: south World
And so the team toppled by Ireland five weeks ago edged the one overwhelmed by France to finish rugby’s 50-day extravaganza with a double pot of gold.
As the Abba song has been blasting out now for more than 40 years, The Winner Takes It All, enough to guarantee the indomitable Springboks four more years of global rule for South Africa as well as a first prize of circa 5 million Euro and that’s barely the half of it.
They made history of a kind which confirms their status as the biggest beast in the rugby jungle, the first country to win four World Cups, still the only one yet to lose a final encompassing three continents: Africa, Asia, Europe.
Who else could find the nerve and hold it through almost unbearable tension to win a World Cup in a way it had been won before, outpointing every knock-out opponent by the narrowest margin: one point against France, one point against England, one point against New Zealand.
As denouements go, Paris last night was never going to beat the only previous final of the sport’s biggest tribes, in 1995 when a roaring South Africa Airways jumbo shook Ellis Park to its foundations just before kick-off and President Mandela danced his jig in a Springbok jersey at the end.
That one went to extra time without a try to be seen but then such a triviality has never bothered the Boks. They won their first tango in Paris, against England 16 years ago in another try-less final and they squeezed home at the same venue on a night of teeming rain when their opponents scored the only try.
Rassie Erasmus and his Leinster-bound sidekick Jacques Nienaber presided over the most nerve-wracking final in the 20 years since England’s historic win over Australia in Sydney broke the Southern Hemisphere’s monopoly for the only time.
Seven weeks in France ended with no sign of Rassie’s razzle-dazzle fading, not when the Springboks dare to do the unheard of, like calling a scrum from a mark in their 22 and repeatedly risk provoking the wrath of the gods by going with one back on the bench.
Within 90 seconds the thought might have flickered in the back of Rassie’s mind that this time he had pushed his luck too far. A blow to any of his backs as severe as the one that forced Bongi Mbonambi’s alarmingly early exit with a twisted right knee might have left Erasmus looking a bit too clever by half.
Nobody does power on a pulverising scale better than the Boks and in the biggest game of all nobody personified the remorseless will-to-win than Pieter-Steph du Toit. He and his wrecking ball added up to the most striking reason why the Blacks fell short, 28 tackles making the average Test flanker seem almost like a slouch by comparison.
On one extremely rare occasion when du Toit was nowhere to be seen, the Kiwis conjured up a try as good as any in any final, Aaron Smith finishing off Richie Mo’unga’s dazzling outside break only for the hawk-eyed TMO, Tom Foley, to spot Ardie Savea’s knock-on at the start of the move.
The quartet of English officials, headed by Wayne Barnes, came through a challenging night of tough decisions with flying colours. The toughest saw Same Cane’s yellow for a shoulder to Kriel’s head after half an hour upgraded to red.
Siya Kolisi avoided a similar fate ten minutes into the second half because ‘a change of dynamic in the tackle’ provided sufficient mitigation to allow the Springbok captain back after ten minutes. Both decisions were correct.
The All Blacks had been swept into the final on a tsunami of tries, 46 in five matches since losing the opener to France. Right from the off, they made a declaration of tactical intent, moving the ball as wide as possible at maximum velocity in a frantic attempt to escape the telescopic tentacles of the green-and-gold octopus.
They went from touchline to touchline, to Will Jordan on the right, then Mark Telea on the left. That they did so without causing the slightest alarm did nothing for the collective anxiety level of an All Black team hounded into almost constant retreat.
Yet they twice had shots at goal to take the lead for the first time. Mo’unga missed a conversion of Beauden Barrett’s try to make it 13-12 and the Boks were still clinging to their fragile advantage when Jordie Barrett’s long-range penalty drifted beyond the far upright.
Despite the major inconvenience of Cheslin Kolbe’s yellow card for a deliberate knock-on, the holders saw the last ten minutes out without giving Savea’s team, for all their enterprise, another sniff.
Kolbe, head in hands, couldn’t bear to watch. And so the tournament ended for the All Blacks as it had started, leaving them with nothing other than perhaps an appreciation of how Ireland felt a fortnight earlier. Both had missed the chance of a lifetime…