The Rugby World Cup’s two most dominant teams will meet in their first final since 1995 this Saturday as New Zealand and South Africa face off in Paris, each searching for a fourth title.
The All Blacks are looking to win their third title in four years following a remarkable turnaround after their record losing margin in a World Cup to France in their first game, as South Africa chase back-to-back titles after edging past France in the quarter-final and England in their semi-final by a single point on both occasions.
The match before they were beaten by France in their tournament opener, New Zealand suffered a record losing margin in any test to Saturday’s opposition and will hope that their attacking quality that has seen them record five straight wins in a row is enough to resist South Africa’s feared forward replacements that have proven so impressive in the tournament so far.
While the Springboks will know they need to improve on their performances in the knockout stages up to now, especially last Saturday’s win over England, if they are to stay in touch with a formidable All Black side.
To try and blow South Africa away before the “bomb squad” can make their mark, New Zealand have only made one change to the team who raced into a 34-6 lead against Argentina inside 50 minutes.
Brodie Retallick will start in the second row ahead of Samuel Whitelock, after the latter replaced the former for the semi-final, with Whitelock hoping to become the first man to play in three World Cup finals if he comes off the bench.
Perhaps to negate the threat of Springboks powerful bench, the only other squad change for the All Blacks sees tighthead Nepo Laulala replaces Fletcher Newell on the bench.
Ian Foster, bowing out as New Zealand boss after this game is concluded, is expecting a thrilling final at the end of a tournament where they have recovered from their record World Cup defeat to win five games in a row to this point.
“We have two teams who have been old foes for a long time. We all remember the last final between us which was an epic.”
“We are where we want to be. We may have lost to France at the start of this tournament, but this team has thrived on focusing on the now. It’s something we’ve loved doing. It enables us to deal with any outside noise around the team.
“That’s massive credit to Sam [Cane] and the leaders that we’ve been able to stay in that place. We’re in a World Cup final and we’re excited.”
Meanwhile, a Springbok team looking to join their opposition as becoming only the second team to go back to back in World Cups have made two alterations to their starting team.
Faf de Klerk and Handre Pollard team up for the 25th time at scrum and fly-half respectively, passing Joost van der Westhuizen and Henry Honiball’s 24 appearances together in the half-backs.
Even more notably from the squad announcement, however, is the fact that South Africa have opted for a 7-1 split of forwards and backs on the bench.
This is the same number of forwards they selected for their crushing victory against the All Blacks in the lead up to the World Cup, and their defeat to Ireland in the tournament’s pool stages.
Jean Kleyn and Jasper Wiese come onto the bench, leaving the dropped Cobus Reinach and Mannie Libbok out of the squad entirely having started against England last Saturday.
South African boss Jacques Nienaber was confident his troops would come out on the winning side, but also wary his team would need to be near their best to get the right result.
He said: “This is an experienced team with several players who played in the last Rugby World Cup final and who know exactly what to expect at Stade de France on Saturday and what it will take to retain the title.
“The players who will be playing in their first World Cup final have also proven their worth as warriors throughout this campaign and they are all ready for this massive occasion.
“We know we are in for a colossal battle. Every point and inch will count in this match and we know it will take another top-class effort to come out on top on Saturday.”
Nick Easter knows all about playing World Cup finals in Paris after he started at number eight for England in the 2007 showpiece against the Springboks, and our guest from this week’s podcast is giving them the edge once again on Saturday.
“It’s tough to split them,” he said. “However, there’s something in my head just saying those New Zealand reserve props especially in the last half hour just aren’t up to it.
“That bomb squad could rip through the Kiwis in the last 20 minutes up front, so I’m going to go South Africa 20 New Zealand 17 as my prediction.”
Stream this week’s episode of the podcast on YouTube (also above), Apple Podcasts, Spotify (also below), Castbox, Google Podcasts or your favourite podcast app
NEW ZEALAND: B Barrett, Jordan, Ioane, J Barrett, Telea, Mo’unga, Smith; De Groot, Taylor, Lomax, Retallick, S Barrett, Frizell, Cane (capt), Savea
Replacements: Taukei’aho, Williams, Laulala, Whitelock, Papalii, Christie, McKenzie, Lienert-Brown
SOUTH AFRICA: Willemse, Arendse, Kriel, De Allende, Kolbe, Pollard, De Klerk; Kitshoff, Mbonambi, Malherbe, Etzebeth, Mostert, Kolisi (capt), Du Toit, Vermeulen
Replacements: Fourie, Nche, Nyakane, Kleyn, Snyman, Smith, Wiese, Le Roux
