{"id":297498,"date":"2023-10-29T23:59:30","date_gmt":"2023-10-29T23:59:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/?p=297498"},"modified":"2023-10-29T23:59:30","modified_gmt":"2023-10-29T23:59:30","slug":"south-africa-stars-on-the-never-say-die-attitude-behind-world-cup-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/rugby-union\/south-africa-stars-on-the-never-say-die-attitude-behind-world-cup-success\/","title":{"rendered":"South Africa stars on the \u2018never-say-die attitude\u2019 behind World Cup success"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/static.independent.co.uk\/static-assets\/images\/newsletter\/sport\/sport-135x135.png\" width=\"134\" height=\"134\" layout=\"responsive\"><\/p>\n<h3>Sign up to our free sport newsletter for all the latest news on everything from cycling to boxing<\/h3>\n<h3>Sign up to our free sport email for all the latest news<\/h3>\n<h2>Thanks for signing up to the<br \/> Sport email<\/h2>\n<p>South Africa\u2019s victory over New Zealand in the World Cup final was forged in their national psyche, according to some of the stars of their successful title defence.<\/p>\n<p>Hosts France, England and the All Blacks each fell by a single point to a Springboks side who do not know when they are beaten, establishing them as rugby\u2019s ultimate knockout specialists.<\/p>\n<p>New Zealand overcame the red card shown to their captain Sam Cane for a dangerous tackle to take an enthralling final to the wire and even had opportunities to snatch South Africa\u2019s crown.<\/p>\n<p>But the repeat champions \u2013 now the most successful nation in men\u2019s World Cup history with four titles \u2013 defended magnificently to ensure they they will return home on Tuesday as heroes.<\/p>\n<p>Prop Ox Nche, the destroyer of England\u2019s scrum in the semi-final, said: \u201cIt shows our resilience. In South Africa that\u2019s what we are made of.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen you think we are down that\u2019s when we come out and shock you and show you that we can achieve anything.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know how to describe this feeling \u2013 it is a feeling that is out of this world. If we stay united we can achieve anything. That\u2019s what it means to me.\u201d<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Quarter-final: Beat France 29-28<\/li>\n<li>Semi-final: Beat England 16-15<\/li>\n<li>Final: Beat New Zealand 12-11<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> Victory was made possible by four first-half Handre Pollard penalties that saw the fly-half \u2013 who was only an injury call up to the squad in mid-September \u2013 finish the World Cup with a 100 per cent kicking record.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis team has a never-say-die attitude. The second half was more containment and limiting the damage. Even though they scored, we limited them to five points,\u201d Pollard said.<\/p>\n<p>It can now be argued that a South Africa team that has amassed back-to-back world titles and defeated the Lions in 2021 is the greatest of all time and there is no question they lifted the Webb Ellis Trophy the hard way.<\/p>\n<p>Full-back Damian Willemse is delighted to have triumphed on behalf of a nation that is besieged by problems.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe do it for the people of South Africa. We do it for each other. We do it for our families. People don\u2019t really have the money but they have made their way here to support us,\u201d Willemse said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m really proud of everyone for putting their bodies on the line and sacrificing themselves.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is what we have to do to win a World Cup. It is really special to be part of it. I am just really proud to be South African.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe knew it was going to take a massive effort to beat the All Blacks. They are a great team who have been in great form these past few weeks.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe red card did change the game from a technical point of view, but we knew the All Blacks weren\u2019t going to die.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/sport\/rugby\/rugby-union\/south-africa-sam-cane-springboks-people-new-zealand-b2437944.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sign up to our free sport newsletter for all the latest news on everything from cycling to boxing Sign up <span class=\"more-text\">&hellip;<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":297497,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>South Africa stars on the \u2018never-say-die attitude\u2019 behind World Cup success - 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