South Africa's Rugby World Cup win a triumph for never giving up

Hosts France, England and the All Blacks each fell by a single point to a Springboks side who do not know when they are beaten, establishing them as rugby’s ultimate knockout specialists.

New Zealand overcame the red card shown to their captain Sam Cane for a dangerous tackle to take an enthralling final to the wire and even had opportunities to snatch South Africa’s crown.

But the repeat champions – now the most successful nation in men’s World Cup history with four titles – defended magnificently to ensure they they will return home on Tuesday as heroes.

Prop Ox Nche, the destroyer of England’s scrum in the semi-final, said: “It shows our resilience. In South Africa that’s what we are made of.

“When you think we are down that’s when we come out and shock you and show you that we can achieve anything.

“I don’t know how to describe this feeling – it is a feeling that is out of this world. If we stay united we can achieve anything. That’s what it means to me.”

Victory was made possible by four first-half Handre Pollard penalties that saw the fly-half – who was only an injury call up to the squad in mid-September – finish the World Cup with a 100 per cent kicking record.

“This team has a never-say-die attitude. The second half was more containment and limiting the damage. Even though they scored, we limited them to five points,” said Pollard.

It can now be argued that a South Africa team that has amassed back-to-back world titles and defeated the Lions in 2021 is the greatest of all time and there is no question they lifted the Webb Ellis Trophy the hard way.

Full-back Damian Willemse is delighted to have triumphed on behalf of a nation that is besieged by problems. “We do it for the people of South Africa. We do it for each other. We do it for our families. People don’t really have the money but they have made their way here to support us,” said Willemse.

“I’m really proud of everyone for putting their bodies on the line and sacrificing themselves.

“That is what we have to do to win a World Cup. It is really special to be part of it. I am just really proud to be South African.

“We knew it was going to take a massive effort to beat the All Blacks. They are a great team who have been in great form these past few weeks.

“The red card did change the game from a technical point of view, but we knew the All Blacks weren’t going to die.”

Cane’s yellow card for a dangerous tackle on Jesse Kriel in the 28th minute of a dramatic clash at the Stade de France was upgraded to red by the bunker review system.

It was the first time a player had been dismissed in a men’s World Cup final and although the All Blacks showed heart to overcome the setback and score through Beauden Barrett, they could not pierce South Africa’s defence again.

“So much hurt right now. It’s actually hard to find the words to explain it,” said Cane.

“It’s hard because you are feeling so much hurt, but at the same time you are so proud of the group in how they fought back.

“We really gave ourselves a good shot of winning that game. I think it speaks volumes of the group as a whole.”

A despondent Cane refused to blame the officials, led by referee Wayne Barnes, or the bunker review system for a decision that left New Zealand swimming against the tide.

“At the time, I wasn’t even aware (of the head contact). It sort of caught me off guard because of the fact he stepped back,” said Cane.

“But we’ve been at this tournament for two months now and anything around the head has ramifications.

“I’m not here to discuss whether it was right or wrong. It can’t be changed. It’s something unfortunately I am going to have to live with forever.”

New Zealand head coach Ian Foster stood by his skipper and insisted the high tackle was not a red card offence, adding that Siya Kolisi’s challenge on Ardie Savea in the second half that was a yellow only was equally severe.

“We’ve all seen the way Sam has contributed to the game, to our team behind the scenes, and it’s fantastic,” said Foster.

“There was an intent to wrap and there didn’t seem to be a whole lot of force in the contact.

“The hit on Ardie had a lot of force going into that contact and had a direct contact on the head. The game has got a few issues it has got to sort out. That’s not sour grapes.

“You’ve got two different situations with different variables and one is a red card, one is a yellow card. We got the same behaviour from that TMO (Tom Foley) that we got during the Irish series last year. We expected what we got.”