Paris, Wellington, Cape Town (29/10 – 18)

South Africa has produced another magnificent defensive performance, to win the 2023 World Rugby Cup final. The Springboks beat New Zealand 12-11 in a Saturday thriller at Stade de France, Saint-Denis, thus becoming the first nation to win four Rugby World Cup titles – after their previous triumphs in 1995, 2007, and 2019. Four Handre Pollard penalties gave the Springboks a 12-6 lead in the first half. By that time, New Zealand already lost captain Sam Cane, red-carded for a high tackle on Jesse Kriel in the 32^nd minute.

The All Blacks only managed to score two penalties in the first half, via Richie Mo’unga. Beauden Barrett touched down, to bring New Zealand to within a point, just before the hour mark. South Africa held firm under huge pressure, with an impressive defensive display. Over 80 minutes of play, The Springboks made 209 tackles, with an 81% success percentage.

The New Zealand is the one with the most tries throughout the tournament, with 47 in 6 matches before the final. That’s nearly 8 per game on average. The All Blacks made just one valiant try against The Springboks.

“They just know their game. They are strong and experienced. They’ve got the ability to play the game at their pace,” admitted All Blacks coach Ian Foster. “For us, it’s heart-breaking, and I look at the effort of our team. We gave ourselves a really good chance in that second half, especially after the damage that red card created.”

Since day one of the tournament, a masterclass defense has been South Africa’s best weapon. On 10 September, The Springboks took Scotland with an 18-3 first game win; their opponent, humiliated, could not register a single try point. With another shutout on 17 September, Jacques Nienaber’s team destroyed Romania, 76-0, in the second game.

World number one South Africa lost to Ireland by a shameful 8-13 in the third match, on 23 September, only scoring once from many tries. In the last match of the pool stage, on 1 October, while Tonga made three tries, South Africa bested them 49-18.

In the quarter-finals and semifinals, The Springboks eliminated two former champions, France (29-28) and England (16-15), scraping through with the smallest of margins. England did not score a single try in the semifinals. In the final, The Springboks won their third consecutive game by a single point. Those three results show their skill at edging out close encounters.

“I think the main thing was just the strength of the squad,” South Africa coach Jacques Nienaber said. “They’re experienced, they’ve been in a final before, and some of them were playing a third World Cup. So I think the experience just pulled it through. They’re an amazing bunch of guys, all warriors. We’ve come a long way with these players; we’ve planned for this since 2018,” added Nienaber.

“The last three games were really rough. Each one we played like a final,” said South Africa flanker Pieter-Steph du Toit, named “Man of the Match” with 28 tackles in the game. “Each one we won by one point, so it was quite tough for us,” he concluded.

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Paris, Dublin, Johannesburg (20/9 – 15)

The 2023 Rugby World Cup will contest what will arguably be the grandest game in the Pool Stage this weekend. On Saturday night, 23 September 2023, South Africa and Ireland go head-to-head in Pool B, at Stade de France, Paris: the world number two against world number one. All will witness a reigning world champion versus a team with a winning streak extending from July 2022.

Both teams dive in with two wins from their opening games. The Springboks won 18-3 against Scotland – and then obliterated Romania 76-0. Meanwhile, Ireland have been barely tested, as they got an 82-8 win over Romania and 59-16 over Tonga. This will in fact be the first time that Ireland and South Africa have met at a World Cup.

But in the last meeting between them on 5 November 2022, Ireland won 19-16. Johnny Sexton scored 9 of Ireland’s 19 points in that game. Sexton is still Ireland’s main man in the 2023 Rugby World Cup, having scored 40 of Ireland’s 141 points with 3 tries, 11 conversions, and 1 penalty.

In his last performance against Tonga, Sexton became Ireland’s all-time top points scorer with 1090. “I’m very proud to do it, but tonight it was more important getting the win and moving on to what is such a massive game (against South Africa) this coming week,” he said.

With Sexton and company on fire, Ireland have already scored 141 points, the top number so far in this year’s World Cup.

South Africa doesn’t have a “Johnny Sexton” in their ranks, at least in the first two matches. Makazole Mapimpi, Cobus Reinach, and Damian Willemse share scoring responsibility, with 15 points each. The Springboks are basically unpredictable.

Against Romania, South Africa made 14 player changes to a team that ran on for an opening 18-3 win against Scotland. That is naturally a prime concern for Ireland. “They are the type of guys who come up with new plans and tricky little things in new games,” said Ireland’s scrum-half Connor Murray. “So you have to be prepared for everything.”

Defence is another strength of the defending champion.

The Springboks only conceded 3 points from two games, against Scotland and Romania. In fact, South Africa only conceded two tries in their last eight games at the tournament. Their current run includes shutouts against Namibia, Italy, Japan, England, Scotland, and Romania.

Their points aggregate across those eight games marked 343 scored and 47 conceded. “This team has always prided itself on defence, so I am extremely happy,” The Springboks’ head coach Jacques Nienaber said in the wake of the 76-0 victory over Romania.

The winner of this massive match will be in the driver’s seat of Pool B, with a possible matchup against New Zealand in the next round. The loser will likely claim second place in Pool B and potentially face France in the first round of the knockout stages. “It will be a big game, in terms of who finishes one and two in the pool, but there are still games to play after this match,” said Nienaber. “I don’t want to get too far ahead. If it’s Italy, if it’s France or New Zealand, it’s going to be a tough quarterfinal, it doesn’t matter who we play.”

The post Biggest Pool Stage Game at 2023 Rugby World Cup – Solid Defence Counters Fierce Attack, South Africa and Ireland Collide appeared first on Ankara Haftalik.