Bronze Final
South Africa beat Argentina to finish third at Rugby World Cup
By James Standley
BBC Sport
30 October 2015
South Africa 24-13 Argentina
South Africa: Tries: Pietersen, Etzebeth
Con: Pollard
Pens: Pollard 4
Argentina: Try: Orlandi
Con: Sanchez
Pen: Sanchez
Drop-goal: Sanchez
At the
(Olympic) Stadium, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, East London
Att:
55,925
South Africa finished third at the World Cup as they beat Argentina 24-13.
A JP Pietersen try and Handre Pollard's boot gave South Africa a 16-0 half-time lead before Nicolas Sanchez finally got the Pumas on the scoreboard.
But Eben Etzebeth's try put the Boks out of sight and Juan Pablo Orlandi's late reply was little consolation.
The only disappointment for the Boks was that Bryan Habana was unable to claim the all-time World Cup try scoring record on his own.
JP Pietersen scores the Springboks' opening try after six minutes
Bryan Habana narrowly failed to become the World Cup's sole all-time top try scorer
The 32-year-old winger came within inches of scoring in the first half, only to be denied by the fingertips of Argentina full-back Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino as they both chased a kick.
But with the record on his mind - he entered the game tied on 15 World Cup tries with New Zealand legend Jonah Lomu - he had a mixed game, and several spilled passes suggested it was not to be his night before he was taken off to a rapturous farewell from a packed Olympic Stadium with 15 minutes remaining.
Boks overpower Pumas
JP Pietersen scoring the early opening try
Bath flanker Francois Louw earned five turnovers against Argentina on Friday night
A ruckus ensues
Habana missed multiple first half opportunities to take Jonah Lomu's all-time World Cup try scoring record for himself
Both teams challenge a lineout at the 80,000-capacity Stadium at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in East London, which will become West Ham United FC's new stadium at the start of next season
South Africa fielded a near first-choice XV and the power of their pack ultimately told in east London.
Argentina enjoyed the majority of the possession but they ran into an unbreachable wall, with giant lock Etzebeth adding a game-high 20 tackles to his try and fellow second row Victor Matfield - captaining the Boks in his last-ever Test - weighing in with 16 in his hour on the pitch.
With open-side flanker Francois Louw winning a remarkable five turnovers on his own, to add to a dozen tackles, Argentina were never able to reproduce their attacking fizz from earlier in the tournament.
A game too far for Argentina?
Argentina had most of the possession, but gave away 15 penalties to South Africa's 10
The Pumas, seeking to match their third-place finish in 2007, made nine changes as a result of injury and exhaustion, and they were unable to match the sheer physicality of the Boks.
They enjoyed the better of both territory and possession but with their pack out-gunned up front, dangerous runners such as Santiago Cordero and Horacio Agulla were never given a sniff of the Springbok tryline.
They made an impressive 564 metres as a team with ball in hand but were forced to attack from deep and every time they approached the South Africa 22 a thumping tackle or classy steal saw them repelled.
BBC Sport - South Africa beat Argentina to finish third at Rugby World Cup
************************************
2015 Rugby World Cup Final
New Zealand v Australia
All Blacks aim for World Cup history
Both teams are aiming to lift the Webb Ellis Trophy for a record third time
Date: Saturday, 31 October
Kick-off: 16:00 GMT
Venue: Twickenham, south west London
Capacity: 82,500
Coverage: BBC Radio 5 live commentary; live text commentary and analysis on BBC Sport website and app
The world's biggest stadium dedicated solely to rugby union is gearing up for the sport's biggest game
New Zealand are aiming to become the first team ever to retain the Rugby World Cup when they meet Australia in Saturday's sell-out Twickenham final.
More than 80,000 fans will see the All Blacks start as favourites, having lost only three games out of 53 since lifting the Webb Ellis Cup in 2011.
It will be the first time the All Blacks and Australia - the world's top-ranked sides - have met in the final.
Both are double winners but no country has won the tournament three times.
The build-up to the final has seen both nations throw their weight behind their quest for victory, with the Sydney Opera House illuminated in green and gold and the slogan "Go Wallabies".
The Sydney Opera House's iconic white sails have turned green and gold
The two countries' national airlines have also agreed a wager that their crews will wear opposing rugby jerseys on Monday should their team lose.
Welshman
Nigel Owens will referee the match, while the 16:00 GMT kick-off is in the early hours of Sunday for the audience across Australia and New Zealand.
The eighth Rugby World Cup has been dominated by the southern hemisphere over its six weeks, with Argentina and South Africa knocked out in the semi-finals, while hosts England failed to progress from the group stage.
'Old fashioned' Cheika denies 'All Blacks' ban
Australia coach Michael Cheika, who took over a struggling side 12 months ago and has turned them into World Cup finalists, laughed off media suggestions on Friday that his players are banned from saying the phrase "All Blacks" in an effort to remove some of the mystique around their opponents.
Defusing some of the tension in the build-up to the game, he reeled off the name and jokingly grabbed his throat, exclaiming: "Can I say All Blacks now for you? Right. OK. [making a strangled noise] Poltergeist!
"It's pretty funny because if you notice, I never call Australia the Wallabies either. I'm really a bit old-fashioned in that way," added Cheika, who led Australia to their
first win over New Zealand in four years as they won the southern hemisphere's Rugby Championship in August.
That was their only win in the past 12 games against the All Blacks, although there have also been two draws in that time.
'Devastated' Carter fuelled by second chance
All Black fly-half Dan Carter, the leading points scorer in Test history, missed New Zealand's 2011 triumph because of injury, and he admitted the thought of the 2015 final has been driving him on.
"Straight after missing the 2011 final I was pretty devastated," he said. "The reason I signed a new four-year deal was the chance of playing in a World Cup - that's what's been driving me.
"It will be a fantastic occasion, with both teams prepared to die for cause. What's happened in the past is irrelevant. Obviously it's a huge occasion but I'm just focusing on what I can do for this team."
Record breakers
At least two records - and possibly several more - will be broken on Saturday.
McCaw will extend his record for the most Test caps to 148 and team-mates Ma'a Nonu and Conrad Smith will play their 62nd Test as a centre partnership, another record.
Team-mate Carter will seek to add to his record points in Test rugby, which currently stands at 1,579.
New Zealand winger Julian Savea will hope to break the record for the most tries scored in a World Cup. He is currently level with compatriot Jonah Lomu and South Africa's Bryan Habana on eight.
Australia winger Drew Mitchell, who has scored 14 tries in World Cup history, is one short of the record held by Lomu and Habana.
New Zealand and Australia are both going for a history-making third win. South Africa have won the tournament twice, while England - champions in 2003 - are the only other side to have won the tournament since it was first held in 1987.
View from the New Zealand camp
Head coach Steve Hansen: "For us in 2011 and for most teams who have won, they've had to dig deep. It's not about doing anything magical, it's about getting the basic things right.
"We don't want to get carried away, to do things differently because it is the final. We know what works for us - the formula's pretty proven - and we need to stick to that and make good decisions."
Captain Richie McCaw: "I don't mind what type of game it is as long as we win.
"We've got a game plan about making space and scoring tries. We've just got to deal with whatever's in front of us. If that means it's a tight one, then that's what we've got to do."
View from the Australia camp
Head coach Michael Cheika: "We don't want to be proud just to make the final - that's too easy. We want to be proud of what we do on Saturday and make Australians more proud of us by giving everything we have got.
"I don't feel as though there is any pressure. People love to talk about the whole pressure thing. The only time you feel pressure is if you are not prepared as well as you possibly can."
Flanker Michael Hooper: "New Zealand are a great group of players who do the small stuff really well. To try and find weaknesses in them is tough; they're a great team."
This will be the 155th meeting between New Zealand and Australia
Experts' view
Former New Zealand fly-half Andrew Mehrtens: "Can Australia win it? Yes.
"The last couple of weeks they probably haven't performed to the level they did earlier in the tournament but they have still got it in them.
"They beat the All Blacks in Sydney in August so they will have confidence."
2003 World Cup winner Matt Dawson: "I threw a tweet out there asking who is going to win. Out of 150 replies 127 said they thought New Zealand will win it."
The teams
New Zealand: Ben Smith; Nehe Milner-Skudder, Conrad Smith, Ma'a Nonu, Julian Savea; Dan Carter, Aaron Smith; Joe Moody, Dane Coles, Owen Franks, Brodie Retallick, Sam Whitelock, Jerome Kaino, Richie McCaw, Kieran Read.
Replacements: Keven Mealamu, Ben Franks, Charlie Faumuina, Victor Vito, Sam Cane, Tawera Kerr-Barlow, Beauden Barrett, Sonny Bill Williams.
Australia: Israel Folau; Adam Ashley-Cooper, Tevita Kuridrani, Matt Giteau, Drew Mitchell; Bernard Foley, Will Genia; Scott Sio, Stephen Moore (captain), Sekope Kepu, Kane Douglas, Rob Simmons, Scott Fardy, Michael Hooper, David Pocock.
Replacements: Tatafu Polota-Nau, James Slipper, Greg Holmes, Dean Mumm, Ben McCalman, Nick Phipps, Matt Toomua, Kurtley Beale.
BBC Sport - New Zealand v Australia: All Blacks aim for World Cup history