Cheslin Kolbe sat on one of the black chairs that were so important in this Rugby World Cup final, his head buried in his green shirt. The South African outside player didn’t want to watch the final minutes of this tournament in France. He didn’t want to know that New Zealand tried to go on the offensive again, fought for every ball for minutes and almost found an opportunity again, seconds before the end, when Kolbe was no longer there with a yellow card and a time penalty after a foul was.
Only when the final scrum was over and referee Wayne Barnes had blown the whistle did Kolbe raise his head: the seconds in which his team stormed across the pitch at the Stade de France and in which, at the same time, at home in South Africa, an entire nation witnessed this epochal, triumphant one He didn’t want to miss the moment he was celebrating.
With a 12:11 on Saturday evening in Paris, South Africa became world champions for the fourth time in a sport that in the Cape is much more than a game for a trophy. Rugby once stood for the horror of apartheid, for white dominance in the country. Then, in 1995, for the newly won unity and a better future. And now? Captain Siya Kolisi dedicated the World Cup title to those people in his homeland “who need hope right now”: “As soon as we work together, we can achieve anything. This team shows that, and I’m so proud of them.”
Kolisi, 32, has finally arrived at the Olympus of his sport. Apart from him, only legendary New Zealander Richie McCaw has achieved the feat of captaining his nation to a World Cup title twice and in some ways that tells a crucial part of the story of this final game, which is a continuation of the unique sporting rivalry between the All Blacks and Springboks was: Since 2007, only these two nations have won the Webb Ellis Cup. They will soon dominate this fascinating sport for over two decades, which they practice so masterfully that only the smallest details decide between victory and defeat.
A red card has never been shown in a World Cup final
Numerous such scenes were symbolic in the Stade de France: the wet rugby egg bounced through the rain again and again – and yet mostly fell on the side of the South Africans, who were on the verge of defeat throughout the tournament and yet won: in the quarter-finals , in the semi-finals and now also in the final they won by just one point.
On Saturday evening they took a 9-3 lead early in the game with three kicks, but above all they were given an advantage in the first half by the grace of the New Zealanders: First, Shannon Frizell had to stay on the black for ten minutes after an unfair tackle and a yellow card Take a seat on the side edge. Then also the captain of the All Blacks.
Before the tournament, South Africa inflicted the heaviest defeat on New Zealand in their history
Sam Cane is the counterpart to Kolisi and yet his cast has a completely different character. The 31-year-old is not a shining figurehead, but rather a criticized choice who was even accused before the tournament of weakening his team rather than strengthening it. Over the course of the seven weeks in France, Cane changed, he became a bastion in the headquarters, received a lot of praise in his homeland – until this fateful tackle in the 27th minute: He saw a forbidden hit above his opponent’s shoulder first a yellow and then a red card after the use of the video referee.
In the history of rugby, no player has ever been sent off in a World Cup final and despite all the personal tragedy for Cane, who almost sank into himself in pain and will probably carry the trauma with him for the rest of his life: for a short time At the time one almost had to worry that South Africa would now escape in this final, with the advantage of an extra player. They had done this before before the tournament, using a numerical advantage to beat the All Blacks 35-7, their worst ever defeat.
Sam Cane
(Photo: Dan Sheridan/Inpho Photography/Imago)
But you could also see in this final game what an uncanny energy there is in the black shirts of the New Zealanders, who were the better team for the entire second half: courageous attack after attack followed in a wild, disorganized game that was almost… two brothers: first Beauden Barrett scored the only try of the game (58th minute), then Jordie Barrett had the chance to put the All Blacks in the lead with a long kick. But the ball flew just past the left post – the one from which the ball had ricocheted earlier in the game after a South African kick in such a way that it was still valid.
The title was decided by centimeters; There were close, sometimes controversial referee decisions; It was decided by the sensational tackles of the South African Pieter-Steph du Toit, who was voted player of the game. And it is also part of the story of this narrow victory that Kolisi and South Africa did not have to regret their indiscipline in the same way as Cane and the New Zealanders.
Kolisi praises the opponent, who was the better team when they were outnumbered
Both Kolisi and Kolbe received yellow cards in the second half of the game, which were very close to red, making it more difficult for their team to defend themselves against the attacks of the All Blacks, whose unbridled courage also impressed Kolisi: “They have us led us to a dark place today,” South Africa’s captain said of his opponents. However: Hardly any other athlete in the world is so talented at leading his team to the light despite all the odds.
However, this also includes the task for Siya Kolisi and South Africa’s Springboks, the heroes of their nation: this World Cup title should be a sign that it is possible to leave the darkness behind. Not just on the field.