The Springboks won 12-11 to become the first team to win four world titles.

South Africa became world rugby champions on Saturday after beating New Zealand 12-11 in the final of the France 2023 World Cup in Paris, becoming the first team to win four world titles.

With four penalties converted by Handre Polard in the first half (03, 13, 19 and 34 minutes), the Springboks again won by the narrowest of margins, for the third time in a row, despite playing in numerical superiority for more than 40 minutes.

The South Africans made it through the group stage in second place in Group B, after losing to Ireland (13-8), and in the knockout phase they beat France (29-28) in the quarter-finals and England (16-15) in the semi-finals.

Today, at the Stade de France, they played in numerical superiority from the second minute, after a yellow card for Shannon Frizell, and the advantage became definitive after Sam Cane's dismissal (27), when South Africa were already leading 9-3, but they were once again unable to get the upper hand.

The adversity united the All Blacks, who went into the break within a goal (6-12), with two penalties from Richie Mo'unga (17, 38) keeping everything open against Pollard's four straight kicks.

The All Blacks tried their best to make the most of the 20 minutes in which they had the same number of players on the pitch again, following yellow cards for South Africans Siya Kolisi (45) and Cheslin Kolbe (73), but it was in a moment of inferiority that they scored the only try of the game, through Beauden Barrett (58).