A brief history of the Rugby World Cup matches between New Zealand and South Africa before their new meeting on Saturday in the final at the Stade de France.
1995 final: South Africa 15, New Zealand 12, in Johannesburg
When apartheid ended, South Africa was readmitted to rugby and given two years to host the World Cup. He organized a 16-team tournament over 30 days. The Springboks and All Blacks reached the final undefeated. The Springboks removed wingers Jonah Lomu and Marc Ellis, who each scored a tournament-record seven tries and led 9-6 on penalties at halftime. New Zealand’s Andrew Mehrtens scored a drop goal in the second half and they finished regulation time 9-all. In overtime, the teams added penalties in the first half, and in the second half, Joel Stransky scored his second drop goal to clinch the title. President Nelson Mandela embodied his attempts to reconcile black and white South Africans by wearing a Springbok jersey and cap when he presented the trophy to Captain François Pienaar.
Third place in 1999: South Africa 22, New Zealand 18 in Cardiff
The Springboks lost in the semi-final in extra time to eventual champions Australia, and the All Blacks were defeated by France at Twickenham. Breyton Paulse scored the only try of the match for third place to help the Boks lead 16-12 at halftime. Andrew Mehrtens’ sixth penalty left the All Blacks trailing by a point, but Percy Montgomery’s second drop goal in the 75th minute clinched the bronze medal.
2003 quarter-final: New Zealand 29, South Africa 9 in Melbourne
The All Blacks dominated but were limited to three tries, two of which were scored by flyhalf Carlos Spencer. South Africa were still in touch after an hour at 16-9 thanks to the boot of Derick Hougaard, but Keven Mealamu then broke tired tackles to score and Joe Rokocoko completed a sweeping move to cap the scoring and send the Springboks at their first World Cup. exit.
2015 semi-final: New Zealand 20, South Africa 18 in London
The reigning champions, the All Blacks, overcame poor discipline to reach the final after a close and tense match at Twickenham. Handre Pollard gave the Springboks a 12-7 half-time lead when All Blacks try-scorer Jerome Kaino was in the dustbin. The All Blacks spent the last five minutes of the break on the field performing drills in the rain. After an hour they were five ahead thanks to a Dan Carter drop and a Beauden Barrett try, and South African Bryan Habana was in the dustbin. Pat Lambie replaced the injured Pollard and scored a penalty to reduce the deficit to two with 11 minutes remaining. A late lineout steal from Sam Whitelock denied Victor Matfield the chance to stage a final drive, and the All Blacks pinned the Boks in their own half until the end.
Pool 2019: New Zealand 23, South Africa 13 in Yokohama
Two tries in four minutes from George Bridge and Scott Barrett saw the All Blacks take a 17-3 half-time lead. The Springboks hit back with a try from Pieter-Steph du Toit and Handre Pollard lost the goal to lead 17-13. But inspired by Ardie Savea and Beauden Barrett, they put themselves out of reach thanks to two penalties. The Springboks ultimately became the first team to lose a pool match and win the title, winning the final against England, who eliminated the All Blacks in the semi-final.
Source: Africa News
