Extra time could be interesting in Cup final
Intriguing as the struggle to claim victory in the final of the 2023 Rugby World Cup appears to be, one strategy embarked upon by South Africa against New Zealand could be significant.
Inevitably, given the marvellous 1995 final played between the two sides, the Ellis Park game has featured in much pre-Test talk. That was down to the zeal the game achieved in South Africa – the first Rugby World Cup it played in due to South Africa's being banned from international play because of its Government's apartheid policies.
That game went to extra time, the winning outcome resulting from a dropped goal landed by first five-eighths Joel Stransky.
If the 2023 final is as close as many pundits expect, might it also be decided in extra time?
And if it is, what might be the effect of the 7:1 substitutes' choice by South Africa?
Given how it has been employed in earlier games, will the substitute players be able to go for an extra 20 minutes?
What also of an early injury suffered by a back in the game? What sort of impact could that have? Would the Springboks attempt to play the game through their forwards rather than releasing the ball to their backs?
The permutations are endless and add to what has been, despite World Rugby's best efforts to undermine the tournament's appeal by botching the draw, a fascinating event.
Some points of interest about the final:
All Blacks coach Ian Foster goes into the game having seen his side win 32 of 45 Tests – a success rate of 71 per cent.
Springboks coach Jacques Nienaber, who, like Foster, is in charge for his last Test, goes in with 25 wins from 37 Tests – a success rate of 68 per cent.
Springboks' first five-eighths Handre Pollard scored 22 points in the 2019 final against England, second only to the 25 scored by Matt Burke in Australia's win in the 1999 final against France.
All Blacks first five-eighths Richie Mo'unga has never kicked a dropped goal in Test rugby.
The South African-inside back combination of Faf de Klerk and Pollard have started together 25 times, but not since playing Australia in the 2022 Rugby Championship Test in Adelaide.
All Blacks wings Will Jordan and Mark Tele'a have chances to complete historic tries in the final. A try for Jordan would make him the highest try scorer at any World Cup. Tele'a could match Sir Michael Jones as the only player to score in a tournament's first and last games.
New Zealand has five survivors from their 2015 World Cup win in their 23: Beauden Barrett, Brodie Retallick, Sam Whitelock, Aaron Smith and Sam Cane.
South Africa has 10 players in their starting XV from the 2019 final: Mbongeni Mbonambi, Frans Malherbe, Eben Etzebeth, Siya Kolisi, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Duane Vermeulen, Faf de Klerk, Handre Pollard, Damian de Allende and Cheslin Kolbe.
The final is a celebration of the end of the 2023 tournament and the end of the most unsettling four-year Cup cycle in the event's history. Covid cut a swathe through the usual developmental processes, especially in 2020.
A competitive final would be a tremendous way to say farewell to a disquieting quadrennial in Cup rugby.