Rugby World Cup Finale – Boks Spring to Victory!

Ok, so it's all over at this year's rugby world cup! Worth a quick post just to wrap it all up…

It does seem the tournament has been going on for quite some time – 7 weeks in fact – but it all came to a conclusion on Saturday night. Whilst there were a lot of matches in the group stages, the teams were whittled down and there was less action of course as we reached the knock-out stages.

I wrote a post before the competition kicked-off and another following the quarter-finals, but where did we end up?

As mentioned last time, there were a couple of final worthy matches in the quarters, which saw off two of the contenders. As the draw was a bit 'skewed', we ended up with slightly mis-matched semis and – on paper – obvious and more deserving winners and finalists.

Source

SF1: New Zealand v Argentina

Well, to be fair this went as expected. Argentina aren't quite good enough to get further than this point and they were no match for the All Blacks. NZ on their day are a joy and always one of the best. Los Pumas didn't put up much of a fight, and the Kiwis went through comfortably.

SF2: England v South Africa

England were also not expected to get through this one. Yes, they were lucky with the draw and were not looking great. Surely, an easy ride for the Boks?

Not really… I always new England could grind out a performance and be in contention. It went to the wire and England should really have won.

Ok, no tries, but they performed well against a physical South African side. There were elements that weren't so good (not least, getting enough points on the board and leaving the door open) but the best they've been, against the world number one side.

South Africa sneaking this one with a penalty in the final minutes.

Bronze Play-off

The match no-one really wants to play in… the dreaded third/fourth place play-off!

It's great to have one last game, and one which has less pressure, and it's always better to be on that podium and walk away with something. However, it's no real consolation and no-one will really remember or care what happens here.

England were the favourites but Argentina were in with a good shout. The English were on top most of the game but the Argentinians ran them close in the end.

A narrow victory and third place for a fairly lacklustre England.

Final: New Zealand v South Africa

On to the final and we did indeed have two of the best and a recipe for a great encounter. Not a high scoring or pretty game as often happens in finals but a tough and interesting battle nonetheless.

And guess what… the Springboks sneaking it by one point once again! That's each of their last 3 matches (all the knock-out games) won by one point. Fortunate in a way, but fair play, they know how to grind out the win.

I said they have a knack of getting over the line in my opening article, and that has shown to be the case once again. A record 4th title (New Zealand were also on 3 tournament wins) and into the history books.

So that's it, all over for another 4 years!

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