Federer celebrates at the Rugby World Cup: South Africa beats New Zealand in dream final

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South Africa added four penalties in the first half and went into halftime with a 12-6 lead. In the second half, New Zealander Beauden Barrett scored the only try of the match. However, the subsequent conversion, which would have resulted in the first leadership, failed. Later, a penalty from the “All Blacks” narrowly missed the goal.

The South Africans had already won the quarter-finals against France (29:28) and the semi-finals against England (16:15) by one point each.

The New Zealand captain sees red

The evening was particularly bitter for captain Sam Cane, who was controversial in New Zealand. In the 29th minute he had to leave the field with a yellow card after a tackle in which his shoulder hit the opponent’s head. A few minutes later, after watching the video footage, the yellow card became a red card. The New Zealanders therefore played a large part of the match with one player less.

The New Zealanders received a yellow card in the second minute and were outnumbered for ten minutes. The South Africans were hit at the start and end of the second half, leaving the field once again in a numerical tie. The number of tickets was unique for a World Cup final. In the nine title fights prior to this match, a yellow card was shown only once.

Federer in fan gear

The match was often described in advance as a dream final and was eagerly awaited. In addition to millions of TV viewers, the stadium was also filled with 80,000 fans – including the two tennis greats Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer who visited the Stade de France. The latter celebrated his South African roots through his mother Lynette with appropriate ventilator equipment.

It was the meeting between the dominant countries in this sport with three World Cup titles each. In the four previous tournaments, the world champions were South Africa (2007 and 2019) or New Zealand (2011 and 2015). “There is nothing bigger than this final,” said captain Siya Kolisi, who eventually lifted the trophy for the second time in a row. (SDA)

Source : Blick