South Africa v New Zealand - teams and prediction
The World Cup Final will take place on Saturday between the rampant New Zealand and their traditional rivals, South Africa.
The All Blacks stormed into yet another Final with a try-fest as their star wing, and tournament-leading try scorer, ran in a hat trick of tries against their hapless opposition.
The Springboks, however, narrowly scraped through their rain-drenched semifinal, with a lone try ultimately deciding the result.
Unconvincing at times throughout the tournament, the Springboks face a mighty challenge in trying to stop their much-favoured opponents this weekend.
No! This is #NOT me predicting Saturday's World Cup Final between New Zealand and South Africa at Stade de France in Paris.
It was, in fact, the preview penned ahead of the World Cup Final between the same two countries 28 years ago - the 1995 showpiece at Ellis Park in Johannesburg.
However, it is uncannily similar to the situation we find ourselves in ahead of Saturday's face-off in Paris.
Twenty-eight years ago the All Blacks beat Scotland 48-30 in a nine-try quarterfinal thriller in which the scoreline flattered the Scots, while New Zealand cruised past England (45-29) in a one-sided semifinal in which star wing Jonah Lomu scored four tries.
In 1995 the Springboks overcame a willing Samoa 42-14 in their quarterfinal and squeezed past France 19-15 in a semifinal played in monsoon-like conditions that almost resulted in the match being cancelled.
The 2023 version of the tournament, in France, has produced eerily similar patterns.
The scoreline (28-24) of New Zealand's win over pre-tournament favourites Ireland in the quarterfinal flattered the Irish team, while a hapless Argentina had no answer to the All Blacks' free-spirited game in a 44-6 semifinal win - a game in which star wing Will Jordan scored a hat-trick.
In stark contrast, South Africa sneaked into the Final with back-to-back one-point wins over France (29-28) and England (16-15).
If the epic 1995 Final is anything to go by, this will be another humdinger between the two arch-rivals.
The most significant fact is that the winner of Saturday's game will not only finish the year as the world's top-ranked team, but will be the first to win a fourth World Cup crown.
All Black coach Ian Foster admitted it is going to be #BIG!
"That's what World Cup finals are about," he said.
"This is the second one we've been to.
"I don't think there's ever a small one.
"The fact is we have two teams who have been old foes for a long time. We all remember the last final between us [in 1995], which was an epic, and hopefully this one will be the same.
"Then you do the maths and we've got three World Cups each and someone is going to win four, so it's a special occasion, isn't it?
"We've had a few recently. We had the 100th Test against them in 2021. There have been a few big, big Tests we have played against these guys.
"We've got massive regard for each other, massive respect for them as country in how they play.
"It's a pretty cool one to get ready for."
(Article continues below video of the All Black preview ...)
Springbok counterpart Jacques Nienaber remembers the 1995 Final vividly - not because of what he remembers from his student days back then, but rather what he learnt from subsequently studying it.
"I remember it very well," Nienaber said, adding: "I remember after the victory we were all in the streets.
"I was at university then.
"I watched it back again about a year ago.
"It's amazing how the game has changed.
"The game has really changed a lot.
"I think there were over 80 kicks in that game. And they played with a leather ball.
"There wasn't any lifting in the line-outs so there were a lot of differences back then.
"The game has really changed a lot.
"The ball in play was under 24 minutes. There was literally no rugby, it was set-piece after set-piece.
"The game is a far better product now than it was back then, but not taking anything away from the game."
All Black captain Sam Cane spoke about the need to find the balance between head and heart in the Final.
"A lot of it comes down to our preparation," Cane said.
"We've got a lot of experience in this squad and it would be silly not to tap into some of that.
"We've been really clear how we have built how we want to play as a team.
"In terms of head and heart, we're in a good place and with that comes confidence.
"There will be a high level of emotion and intent to start the game well, there always is.
"But we have played two knockout matches in a row and I trust we are in a good spot there.
"The boys have done a lot of physical and mental prep. Although it is a final, we just have to trust ourselves to go out there and play good footy."
Bok captain Siya Kolisi described as 'most likely' the biggest game of his career.
"We actually spoke about it yesterday [Wednesday]," Kolisi said.
"It's huge. We've prepared as hard as we can.
"We know what to expect.
"I don't think as a player it will ever get any bigger.
"They just turned it around quietly, behind the scenes they were doing their work and now they are here. We had to find our way too.
"The way that the coaches went the last year or so, we played over maybe 50 players to try and find the best."
"I don't think it's stuff that you can dream about because it doesn't happen often.
"I don't think it will happen in our lifetime again to have two teams like this."
Nienaber said the kicking game will be vitally important at Stade de France - with a high probability of precipitation.
"There is a 60 percent chance there will be rain either just before or in the game," Nienaber said.
"We had a semifinal [against England] where we were exposed to that.
"The kicking game will be important, like it is in any For semifinal, and gaining territory will be important."
Players to watch
For South Africa: Halfbacks Handre Pollard and Faf de Klerk, as well as hooker Bongi Mbonambi will be key players for the Springboks. Mbonambi makes the run-on team after being cleared by World Rugby on Thursday of having used a racial slur against England's Tom Curry in last weekend's semifinal. Nienaber axed Cobus Reinach and Manie Libbok. Pollard and De Klerk The latter pair will start together for the 25th time, moving past Joost van der Westhuizen and Henry Honiball (24 Tests) to make them the most experienced halfbacks in Springbok history. They are in a starting team which features 10 players who started in the World Cup Final four years ago and is the most experienced in Springbok history with a combined total of 987 caps, eclipsing the record set the previous week against England of 895 Test caps. Nienaber also opted for a replacement bench boasting seven forwards and just one back in veteran Willie Le Roux. The replacements' bench features forwards Deon Fourie (hooker/flank), Ox Nche and Trevor Nyakane (props), Jean Kleyn and RG Snyman (locks), Kwagga Smith and Jasper Wiese (loose forwards), and Le Roux.
For New Zealand: Coach Ian Foster has made one change to his starting XV, Brodie Retallick replacing Sam Whitelock in the second row. Whitelock, the most capped All Black, is named on the bench for his 153rd Test appearance and will become the first player in history to make three World Cup deciders. He is also one of six World Cup winners in the match day 23. There is one additional personnel change to the reserves bench with tighthead prop Nepo Laulala replacing Fletcher Newell. Mark Telea is joined in the back three by fullback Beauden Barrett and Will Jordan, with Rieko Ioane and Jordie Barrett in midfield, and Richie Mo'unga and Aaron Smith continuing at halfback.
Head to head
Road to the Final
Prediction
@rugby365com: New Zealand by eight points
Teams
New Zealand: 15 Beauden Barrett, 14 Will Jordan, 13 Rieko Ioane, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11. Mark Telea, 11 Richie Mo’unga, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Ardie Savea, 7 Sam Cane (captain), 6 Shannon Frizell, 5 Scott Barrett, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Ethan de Groot
Replacements: 16 Samisoni Taukei’aho, 17 Tamaiti Williams, 18 Nepo Laulala, 19 Samuel Whitelock, 20 Dalton Papali’i, 21 Finlay Christie, 22 Damian McKenzie, 23 Anton Lienert-Brown
South Africa: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Cheslin Kolbe, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi, (captain), 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Steven Kitshoff.
Replacements: 16 Deon Fourie, 17 Ox Nche, 18 Trevor Nyakane, 19 Jean Kleyn, 20 RG Snyman, 21 Kwagga Smith, 22 Jasper Wiese, 23 Willie le Roux.
Date: Saturday, October 28
Venue: Stade de France, Saint-Denis
Kick-off: 21.00 (19.00 GMT; 21.00 SAST; 08.00 Sunday, October 29 NZDT)
Expected weather: Cloudy, changing to light showers and a moderate breeze. High of 16°C, with a low of 12°C
Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant referees: Karl Dickson (England), Matthew Carley (England)
TMO: Tom Foley (England)
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