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2023 Rugby World Cup
Final
New Zealand v South Africa
Stade de France
Paris, France
Saturday, 28 October 2023
Kick-off is at 21h00
History will be made when southern hemisphere titans New Zealand and South Africa lock horns in the 2023
Rugby World Cup final at the Stade de France on Saturday, October 28.
Both teams are bidding to win the Webb Ellis Cup for a record fourth time, with the Springboks looking to defend the title they won in Japan four years ago.
Jacques Nienaber's side will need to improve markedly, however, if they hope to repeat the feat of the class of '95, who beat the All Blacks on home soil to be crowned world champions for the first time.
The Boks weren't at the best against hosts France and England in the knockout stages, winning both matches by a one-point margin.
Manie Libbok struggled with his kicking out of hand in the 16-15 win over England in the semi-finals and was hauled off after just 31 minutes.
Replacement fly-half Handre Pollard went on to play an instrumental role in the clash as he converted a 78th-minute penalty to secure a dramatic victory for the defending champions.
However, Nienaber revealed that Libbok's performance will have no bearing on his team selection against their arch-rivals in the French capital.
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"The beauty of this group is we are open and honest, and because we have the right players, the players accept it," he said. "Sometimes things aren't going your way. We did it with Bongi [Mbonambi] in 2018. We took him off. For that specific day he just was not on fire but he started the next week again.
'The main thing is everything is for the team and they understand that. Players take it on the chin. It doesn't mean he [Libbok] won't start next week. We didn't miss a kick at goal tonight, every single opportunity we utilised, with him and Handre. That is how it is. It is for South Africa, not for the individual, not for the ego.
"We get messages and we see every single message that gets sent to us. It is for them. The Springboks are more important than anything else."
New Zealand have stepped up their game since suffering a shock defeat to Les Bleus in the tournament opener, scoring the most points and the most tries.
There were doubts about the All Black' title credentials after they lost heavily to the Springboks (35-7) in a World Cup warm-up match in London on August 25.
But Ian Foster's side have silenced their critics with strong displays against Ireland and Argentina in the previous two rounds to reach their fifth final.
Foster has been backed through to the World Cup despite coming in for fierce criticism in the last year and he insists there is no "personal agenda" about their run in France, with Scott Robertson set to replace him at the helm after the tournament.
Alamy Stock Photo
"You have to enjoy your work. It's not like it's a focus for us to go out there and have fun, but to make sure we execute our game to the level we need to," he said after their 44-6 victory over the Pumas.
"The team takes a lot of pride when they do that. The work the players and leaders are doing is a real credit to them. As you go through tournaments, you have to enjoy it. There is a lot of pressure, so if you don't celebrate moments, it is a long old time.
"I am proud to be part of this group, the coaches are linking well with the players and there is a nice synergy about it. But you know, one more week.
"There's not a personal agenda here, this is about the All Blacks and the team. Things have happened to individuals and to me, but the team comes first. Right now we're making a lot of those decisions together as a group and it is working well."
Head-to-Head:
Matches - 105
New Zealand - 62
South Africa - 39
Draws - 4
Springbok team to face New Zealand in the Rugby World Cup final:
15 - Damian Willemse (DHL Stormers) – 38 caps, 56 pts (4t, 9c, 4p, 2d)
14 - Kurt-Lee Arendse (Vodacom Bulls) - 14 caps, 65 points (13t)
13 - Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles) – 67 caps, 75 points (15t)
12 – Damian de Allende (Wild Knights) – 77 caps, 55 points (11t)
11 – Cheslin Kolbe (Suntory Sungoliath) – 30 caps, 91 points (14t, 3c, 5p)
10 – Handré Pollard (Leicester Tigers) – 68 caps, 686 points (7t, 96c, 148p, 5dg)
9 – Faf de Klerk (Canon Eagles) – 54 caps, 50 points (5t, 5c, 5pg)
8 – Duane Vermeulen (SA Rugby) – 75 caps, 15 pts (3t)
7 – Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz) 75 caps, 40 points (8t)
6 – Siya Kolisi (captain – Racing 92) - 82 caps, 50 points (10t)
5 – Franco Mostert (Honda Heat, Japan) – 72 caps, 15 points (3t)
4 – Eben Etzebeth (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 118 caps, 30 points (6t)
3 – Frans Malherbe (DHL Stormers) – 68 caps, 5 points (1t)
2 – Bongi Mbonambi (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 67 caps, 65 points (13t)
1 - Steven Kitshoff (Ulster) – 82 caps, 10 points (2t)
Replacements
16 - Deon Fourie (DHL Stormers) – 12 caps, 10 pts (2t)
17 - Ox Nche (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 27 caps, 0 pts
18 - Trevor Nyakane (Racing 92) – 66 caps, 5 pts (1t)
19 - Jean Kleyn (Munster) – 6 caps, 0 pts (Ireland 5 caps)
20 - RG Snyman (Munster) – 33 caps, 10 points (2t)
21 - Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs) – 39 caps, 35 pts (7t)
22 - Jasper Wiese (Leicester Tigers) – 26 caps, 5 pts (1t)
23 - Willie le Roux (Vodacom Bulls) – 92 caps, 75 pts (15t)
Stats and facts:
Springbok record against New Zealand:
Played: 105, Won: 39. Lost: 62, Drawn: 4. Points for: 1 729; Points against: 2 185; Tries scored: 168; Tries conceded: 239. Win %: 37.1%.
Milestones:
- Faf de Klerk and Handre Pollard will start together as halfback combination for the 25th time, moving past Joost van der Westhuizen and Henry Honiball (24 Tests) as most experienced halfbacks in Springbok history.
- Bongi Mbonambi will move into joint-fourth place on the list of most starts at hooker, passing Malcolm Marx with his 35th start. The first four on the list are John Smit (81), Bismarck du Plessis (50), James Dalton (40) and Adriaan Strauss (35).
Miscellaneous:
- The Boks have played 12 Tests against four different opponents at the Stade de France, winning nine and losing three.
- If used off the bench, Trevor Nyakane will play his 49th Test as a replacement for South Africa. Only Steven Kitshoff (54) has more appearances as a substitute.
- The Springboks and the All Blacks have met on five previous occasions at a Rugby World Cup. The Boks won the first two (the final in 1995 and the third-place playoff in 1999) and New Zealand the other three (quarter-final in 2003, semi-final in 2015 and pool match in 2019).
- This is the most experienced team in Springbok history with a combined total of 987caps (eclipsing the record set the previous week against England of 895 Test caps).
- There are 348 caps in the backline, with 639 caps among the forwards. On the bench there are a further 301 caps.
- The average caps per player in the backline is 50, the forwards 80, while the players on the bench average 38.
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