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       With Its Fourth Rugby World Championship, South Africa Stands Alone

       Ireland and France entered the World Cup as favorites, but South Africa won it by beating New Zealand in a meeting of the sport’s traditional champions.

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       The South African men’s rugby team, known as the Springboks, won a second consecutive Rugby World Cup title. Credit...Hannah Peters/Getty Images

       By Pete McKenzie

       Reporting from Wellington, New Zealand

       Dec. 8, 2023

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       As the championship match of the 2023 Rugby World Cup ticked into its last half minute, South Africa’s Springboks, the defending champions, girded themselves for a brutal final stand. Arrayed against them were New Zealand’s iconic but troubled All Blacks, scrapping desperately for a victory that just weeks before few had expected would be possible.

       A minor infringement forced a scrum — a mass wrestle for the ball — and gave the All Blacks an opportunity to overcome a 12-11 deficit. On the sideline, Cheslin Kolbe, a Springbok sent off with a yellow card, pulled his jersey over his head in despair. In the crowd, tears streamed down the face of a fan with a South African flag draped around his neck.

       The next 30 seconds would determine whether the All Blacks or the Springboks would become the first team to win four men’s world titles. The scrum began, then collapsed. Seven seconds remained. The scrum reset. One Springbok snatched the ball and was inundated by grasping All Blacks. The players fell in a writhing heap. The whistle blew. The game was over. The Springboks had won.

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       Players from South Africa and New Zealand during a scrum in the game. Late in the game, a scrum had the potential to be consequential. Credit...Antonin Thuillier/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

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       A version of this article appears in print on Dec. 9, 2023, Section A, Page 13 in The New York Times International Edition . Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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