RWC 2019: Triple triumph
SA Rugby magazine reflects on the 2019 World Cup in Japan, in which the Springboks lifted the Webb Ellis Cup for a third time.
In 2008, the International Rugby Board (now World Rugby) announced that a record 10 unions had expressed interest in hosting either the 2015 or 2019 tournaments.
The following year, the IRB rubber-stamped Rugby World Cup Ltd’s recommendation that the 2015 tournament be held in England and that Japan become the first Asian hosts in 2019. South Africa, which had expressed interest in both tournaments, missed out again.
The Springboks finished third at the 2015 World Cup before regressing over the next two years. When Rassie Erasmus replaced Allister Coetzee as head coach in early 2018, he inherited a team ranked seventh in the world.
Erasmus made Siya Kolisi his captain and began rebuilding the Boks. By the time they arrived in Japan for the 2019 World Cup, South Africa were quietly confident of success, having won an abbreviated Rugby Championship earlier in the year.
Their opening match was against the world champion All Blacks, who they had beaten in Wellington in 2018 and drawn against at the same venue a year later. However, on this occasion, in Yokohama, New Zealand were too good, scoring 17 points in a six-minute counter-attacking blitz that set up a 23-13 win.
No team had won the World Cup after losing a pool match, but Erasmus believed the Boks could buck that trend.
They bounced back with convincing Pool B wins against Namibia (57-3), Italy (49-3) and Canada (66-7) that booked a quarter-final meeting with Japan.
The Brave Blossoms, coached by New Zealander Jamie Joseph, had ridden a wave of home support to shock Ireland 19-12 and then beat Scotland 28-21. That final Pool A fixture was almost called off due to the extreme weather brought by Typhoon Hagibis, the strongest typhoon to strike mainland Japan in decades.
The Irish still qualified for the quarter-finals, courtesy of an earlier 27-3 win against Scotland, but finished second in the pool.
Sadly, the feature match of Pool C, between England and France in Yokohama, was cancelled due to Typhoon Hagibis. Both teams beat Argentina, Tonga and the USA to qualify for the quarter-finals, although the French were given a big scare by Los Pumas in their first match before prevailing 23-21.
Six Nations champions Wales and the Wallabies progressed from Pool D, with the Welsh winning the match between the two in Tokyo, 29-25. Meanwhile, Fiji suffered a shock 30-27 defeat to Uruguay, who celebrated their first World Cup win since 2003.
Eddie Jones’ England became the first team to book their place in the semi-finals, with an impressive 40-16 win against the Wallabies, whose head coach, Michael Cheika, promptly resigned. The All Blacks then scored seven tries in their 46-14 hammering of Ireland, who lost at the quarter-final stage for the seventh time.
The following day, Wales claimed a 20-19 victory against 14-man France. Lock Sébastien Vahaamahina was red-carded early in the second half after elbowing Wales flank Aaron Wainwright.
The Springboks then ended Japan’s fairy-tale run – and gained revenge for their shock defeat to the Brave Blossoms at the 2015 World Cup – with a 26-3 win at Tokyo Stadium.
The moment of the match came in the 65th minute when the Boks won a lineout just inside their own half and mauled to within sight of the tryline, before hooker Malcolm Marx broke off and put scrumhalf Faf de Klerk away to score.
A week later, England produced one of their greatest performances to beat the All Blacks, in Yokohama, with the 19-7 scoreline flattering their opponents.
The second semi-final was a game of chess between Erasmus’ Springboks and Warren Gatland’s Wales, with De Klerk, who had kicked 17 times in the quarter-final against Japan, doing so on 19 occasions here.
Bok centre Damian de Allende scored the first try of the match, in the 57th minute, when he powered through the Welsh defence from 20m out to score, but Wales hit back soon after through wing Josh Adams.
The ‘Bomb Squad’ – as the Boks’ forward-loaded bench became known – made a significant impact, with flank Francois Louw winning a crucial breakdown penalty late in the game.
Soon after, the Boks were awarded a penalty that flyhalf Handré Pollard coolly slotted for a 19-16 win.
If you read the English press during the build-up to the 2019 World Cup final, or watched the press conference in which England props Joe Marler and Dan Cole joked and fooled around, you would have been forgiven for thinking they had already won the final. But the Boks happily embraced the underdog tag and spoke about how much a win would mean for South Africans.
England suffered a huge setback early in the decider when concussed tighthead prop Kyle Sinckler left the field after colliding with teammate Maro Itoje and was replaced by Cole.
Bok loosehead Tendai ‘Beast’ Mtawarira destroyed Coles at the next scrum and went on to win several penalties for his team. While South Africa also had first-half casualties in hooker Bongi Mbonambi and lock Lood de Jager, Bomb Squad replacements Marx and Franco Mostert were just as good.
Six Pollard penalties gave the Boks an 18-12 lead heading into the final quarter. It was only when winger Makazole Mapimpi combined with Lukhanyo Am to score the first South African try in a World Cup final that they enjoyed some breathing space. And when winger Cheslin Kolbe stepped England captain Owen Farrell on his way to dotting down in the 74th minute, the South African celebrations really began.
In another iconic Springbok moment, a jubilant Kolisi lifted the Webb Ellis Cup, and it soon became evident this triumph was bigger than that of 1995. Thousands of people packed the international arrivals terminal at OR Tambo to welcome back the world champions, and tens of thousands lined the streets during the countrywide trophy tour.
2019 Player of the Tournament
Twenty-four hours after winning the World Cup, Pieter-Steph du Toit was presented with the 2019 World Rugby Player of the Year award. He would also be named SA Rugby Player of the Year for a third time, having received the accolade in 2016 and 2018.
The lock-turned-blindside flank terrorised England in the World Cup final, hitting 28 rucks (he was first man in on 18 occasions) and making 11 tackles. He also had a hand in Cheslin Kolbe’s title-sealing try.
2019 Playoff results
Quarter-finalsEngland 40 Australia 16New Zealand 46 Ireland 14Wales 20 France 19
South Africa 26 Japan 3
Semi-finals
England 19 New Zealand 7
South Africa 19 Wales 16
Third-place playoff
New Zealand 40 Wales 17
Final
South Africa 32 England 12
