South Africa has won their fourth title by narrowly defeating New Zealand, sealing their place in history as one of the dominant forces in Rugby World Cup history.
They held onto their crown and became the first team to win the tournament two times in a row while playing away from home.
At the beginning of the game, Handre Pollard kicked the ball through the posts, and that gave the Springboks an early lead of 9-3.
But things got worse for New Zealand when their captain, Sam Cane, got a red card for tackling Jesse Kriel too aggressively. This left New Zealand with only 14 players, and they were down by nine points.
New Zealand managed to score some points with a penalty kick by Richie Mo’unga just before halftime.
Beauden Barrett scored a quick try after the break, bringing the score to a very close 12-11.
READ ALSO: Tonali Banned for 10 Months Due to Illegal Betting Charges
The last part of the game was really exciting as both teams tried hard to score more points, and it was a nail-biting experience for the fans. But, in the end, no one could score, and South Africa won by just one point.
This victory means that South Africa has won half of the eight Rugby World Cup tournaments they’ve been in.
This is a big deal, especially because they weren’t allowed to play in the first two tournaments because of their government’s bad policies.
Unfortunately, New Zealand, coached by Ian Foster, came very close to winning but fell just short.
Foster’s four-year coaching run was under a lot of pressure leading up to the tournament because the team didn’t perform as well as they usually do.