It was Handre Pollard who emerged as the hero in South Africa vs New Zealand final encounter of the Rugby World Cup 2023, to take the former to a well-deserved title. His four penalties helped his team narrowly beat New Zealand 12-11 in the Rugby World Cup final on Saturday to win a record fourth title.
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Pieter-Steph du Toit, the Player of the match said, “The last three games have been quite tough, each one we have played has been a final and each one we have won by one point. As a team we like drama. It has helped us through the last few years, it shows the resilience of this team.
“We are honoured to play for the whole of South Africa and the Springboks. When we go back home it will be a warm welcome for us.”
South Africa captain Siya Kolisi added: “Honestly, people who are not from South Africa don’t understand what this means for our country. It’s not just about the game on the field. Our country goes through such a lot. We are the hope they have.”
The South Africa vs New Zealand Rugby World Cup final also witnessed Ab de Villiers, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic among the 80,000 spectators.
On the other hand, the Kiwi players were left dejected after such a narrow loss. The Black Caps lost Sam Cane early on in the match after he was red-carded for a high tackle. After the match, he said, “The boys had to play with 14 men for the last 50-odd minutes. I thought the courage that they showed out there was incredible. The whole team are absolute warriors.”
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