Last line of defence

Top of the world: South African players celebrate after they won the Rugby World Cup final match against New Zealand. The Springboks won 12-11. — AFP

WELLINGTON (New Zealand): 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.