All Blacks and Springboks go head to head in the rugby world cup finals Photo: Rugby World Cup
It's fair to say most All Black fans are actually still trying to get their heads around the fact that the team is in the World Cup final. After all, it's not that long ago they were on the receiving end of a record defeat, which was followed up by another heavy loss in the first game of the tournament.
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That all seems like a long time ago, partly because of how long the World Cup has taken. But that extra time has allowed the All Blacks to finally find their groove, honed through the pool stages and field tested in the quarter final against Ireland.
They now face the side that handed them that 35-7 humiliation at Twickenham, the Springboks. Here are the main things to think about as we count down towards kickoff at 8am Sunday morning:
Will the Twickenham disaster matter?
Yes and no. It's a very different All Black team once you put Brodie Retallick and Jordie Barrett back in it, plus if Scott Barrett doesn't get sent off again. But making up for yet another chapter of failure that the All Blacks would have desperately wanted to avoid will be front of mind. Twickenham was bad, sure, but it's unlikely no one is going to care too much in the long run if the All Blacks can win tomorrow.
Scott Barrett of New Zealand is sent off during the game against South Africa at Twickenham, 2023. Photo: photosport
A time to say goodbye
Aaron Smith, Samuel Whitelock, Dane Coles, Nepo Laulala are definitely playing their last tests for the All Blacks tomorrow, Beauden Barrett and Leicester Fainga'anuku may well be, and Shannon Frizell and Richie Mo'unga their last for a little while at least. The motivation to send those players, some of whom have claim to be among the greatest of all time, will be really high in the All Blacks.
These two save their best for each other
While the stats point to a high scoring game - both sides have averaged around 30 points the last five times they've defeated one another - it's also fair to presume that their gameplans will be pretty different to their two wildly contrasting semi-finals last weekend. The Springboks know they can't just sit back against the All Blacks and let them establish a lead, because they found that out the hard way at Mt Smart. The All Blacks can't let the Boks do it either, because they found out the hard way at Twickenham. So it needs to be a high octane start by both.
Ardie Savea is tackled by South Africa's Faf de Klerk during the match between New Zealand and South Africa at Twickenham Stadium in London. Photo: AFP / Adrian Dennis
Bulked up bench
Jacques Nienabar and Rassie Erasmus created the monster bench idea for the Twickenham fixture and it worked, so will they empty the entire lot onto the field against the All Blacks at once again? There's a large element of risk in all of it, not least that there is not a proper reserve halfback or hooker.
Redemption arcs
Ian Foster will probably never admit it, but it's hard to think that it won't be an exceedingly satisfying feeling walking into his last ever press conference as All Black coach with the World Cup. Sam Cane will probably be in the same boat, after three years of constant scrutiny on both men, they now stand to join the pantheon of the elite. Cane has put to bed any questions of whether he should have the job, while Foster is moving on regardless in an end to probably the most tumultuous head coaching reign in All Black history.
Point already proven
No matter the result, this World Cup has already proven that the predictions of a Northern Hemisphere walkover were so far off the mark it's not funny. The All Blacks and Springboks have historically been the two best sides in test rugby, have won the most World Cups and the last five between them, so it's fitting they meet in this year's big one. The irony of England, one of the poorest performing teams leading in, being the best finishing 6 Nations side is a tad ironic.
New Zealand head coach Ian Foster hugs Ireland player Bundee Aki after losing the Quarter Final match Ireland v New Zealand All Blacks at the Rugby World Cup France 2023. Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France on Saturday 14 October 2023. Photo credit: Andrew Cornaga / www.photosport.nz Photo: Andrew Cornaga/www.photosport.nz
