Springboks book dream Rugby World Cup final against All Blacks

The Springboks will face their biggest rivals, New Zealand’s All Blacks, in the 2023 Rugby World Cup final, in Paris next Saturday, with kick-off at 9pm.

In a dramatic semi-final in Paris on Saturday night, the winners from the 2019 tournament, the Boks, edged England 16-15, thanks to a late converted try by RG Snyman and a 77th minute 50m penalty by Handre Pollard.

It was the second week in a row that the Boks won by a single point; after they edged France 29-28 in their quarter-final clash last weekend.

Four-time winners

The New Zealand All Blacks beat Argentina 44-6 in their semi-final on Friday night.

Whoever wins the final will become the first team to lift the Webb Ellis Cup for a fourth time.

The last time the Boks and New Zealand faced off in a World Cup final, in 1995 in South Africa, it was the hosts who won 15-12 after extra-time — for their first title. They also won the Webb Ellis Cup in 2007 and 2019.

New Zealand’s triumphs came in 1987, 2011 and 2015.

While the All Blacks beat the Boks 35-20 in a Rugby Championship clash in Auckland earlier in the year, the Boks beat their biggest rivals 35-7 in a World Cup warm-up match prior to the tournament in France.

Boks edge England

England captain Owen Farrell slotted four first-half penalties and a drop-goal to put England into a 15-6 lead, but a converted Snyman try brought the Boks back into the game, and Pollard struck late with a penalty to give the Boks a one-point lead.

The Bok flyhalf was also one of the heroes of the win against France the week before, while he also scored 22 points in the 32-12 victory in the 2019 World Cup final.