Final South Africa, champion of the world and of agony Slow heroes and opposite styles How New Zealand and South Africa play
“I guess as a team we like drama.” The South African said it at the end of the final Pieter-Steph du Toit. The Springboks have become world champions, winning their three life-or-death matches by one point. But, more than the resilience to the drama, the team has weighed. South Africa, world champion, only appears on the podium in defensive statistics. It is the second team that has conceded the fewest tries (eight in seven games) and the first in tackles. In the final he made 208 to New Zealand’s 92. Du Toit himself, 28.
South Africans have internalized the American football coach’s phrase Bear Bryant: “The offense sells tickets, the defense wins championships.” They have formed a very veteran squad, especially up front; Only 7 of the 23 called up for the decisive match were under 30 years old. And at the same time very versatile, with a handful of versatile players. The symbol is Deon Fourie. He debuted in the national team at 36 years old and at 37 he played 77 minutes of the final. When the heel is injured Malcolm MarxFourie resumed a position that he had not occupied in the last five years.
Fourie’s reconversion made it possible for Marx’s loss to be covered with an absolutely different player. The Sniper Handr Pollard. She has landed all the punishment blows that he has thrown at her. South Africa and also England, third in this World Cup, have remembered that games are also won with the foot, adding three at a time. Another style, perhaps more grateful to the spectator, has been exhibited by the spectacular New Zealand, a try-scoring machine, 49 in the entire championship. However, in the final he only scored one in eight innings in the opposing 22nd.
Almost countercultural trend
If rugby has not been a sport for 15 players, but for 23, for a long time, the physical demand of the 2023 World Cup in France has expanded the focus to the 33 of each call. With their gala fifteen, Ireland beat South Africa in the first phase and showed off in the rest of the matches. In the quarterfinals, against a New Zealand that had rotated its squad in the previous phase, it could not convert its last and endless attack into points. He fell – among other reasons – prey to his own fatigue.
Among the contrast of styles, an almost countercultural trend has reappeared in France. Faced with the evolution of the regulations to favor fast matches and with less influence of lamel, especially South Africa used that formation to start the penalty shots that allowed them to come back in the quarterfinals and the semifinal. “Salads don’t win mels,” his pilier recorded before the tournament Ox Nch, more in favor of cake. And in a match, the last of the championship, New Zealand was on the verge of winning the ball and a hope of turning around the final. Eight against eight a few feet from the ground, the symbol has returned.
This claim occurs when, in the context of the game, the mel is formed less and less frequently and is the throw-in the most sought after platform, especially on the opposite 22. Large and small selections have found in this choreography of heights the origin of a very significant percentage of their rehearsals. Ireland has achieved 17 out of 30 and Australia, 8 out of 11. These phases with the involvement of many players, together with the maul and the ruck – New Zealand’s, slower than usual in the final – illustrate the intensity of traditional rugby against to the most colorful rugby sevens.
New Zealanders Williams and Retallick call the attention of refereeAntonin ThuillierAFP
With the one that ends, nine of the ten World Cups have been conquered by the southern countries. Another fiasco from the north? Disappointment in the result and in your previous expectations, not in the level shown. Until the last minute, France, Ireland and England had the chance to eliminate the finalists. Both data are significant: that all of them were ready and that none of them achieved it. Without a doubt, they have competed. The same can be said, in the south, of New Zealand. The All Blacks fell by one point, true to their style and with courage. It seems difficult to maintain that they have failed.
Nor has France 2023 been the World Cup of surprises. Australia’s puncture is felt and Fiji had already shown signs of improvement. They will be the only teams that have changed steps. England and Wales have improved with their new coaches, the XV de la Rosa has completed a very good tournament. Argentina, without enthusiasm, has occupied a positive fourth place. The progression of Scotland, Italy, Japan and Georgia has not allowed them to reach the quarterfinals. Last-minute reinforcements have not helped Tonga and Samoa to move up positions either. Among the modest ones, Portugal and Uruguay have been exciting.
Revenue and visibility
Despite some defeats in the group stage, the intensity of the qualifying rounds – seven of the eight matches resolved by less than a converted try – has made this World Cup an attractive spectacle. According to the International Federation, more than 2.4 million people have attended the stadiums (about 50,000 on average per match) and The broadcast audience has reached 800 million viewers. And the future? The 2027 World Cup in Australia will have 24 teams. An opportunity for more emerging countries, perhaps Spain among them, to have income and visibility.
But during the championship the International Federation (World Rugby) has also announced that, respecting the existing private tournaments, it is creating another competition in even-numbered years with two divisions of 12 teams. For the Spaniard, probably in the lower-middle half of the second category, it can provide matches against rivals of her level. But the fact that there will be no promotions and relegations between those two divisions until at least 2030 frustrates those who are already approaching the first level.
“I am very proud of developing countries,” The Fiji coach, Simon Raiwalui, has claimed at the World Cup, asking for help to “break down barriers.” He alluded to this double policy of World Rugby. On the one hand, it provides funds and knowledge to emerging countries; On the other hand, it delays and limits the possibility of the most advantaged among them facing the best. The paradox of a sport that aspires to be global but where such a static hierarchy governs that even the participants in the world championships tend to repeat themselves every four years. In France, the champion has also been repeated, for his own undeniable merits.
2023-10-31 20:33:56
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