Rugby-Springboks have faced toughest road to World Cup final

If South Africa manage to win the Rugby World Cup in Paris on Saturday, it will be considered a challenging victory as they have faced every other team in the top six of the current world rankings throughout their journey. The Springboks, aiming for a record fourth World Cup title, have come across numerous obstacles in their campaign so far. South Africa currently holds the top position in the latest world rankings, followed by New Zealand in second place. During the pool stages, the Boks have already played against Scotland, ranked sixth, and Ireland, ranked third, with the latter team being their only defeat. They have also overcome tough competition against hosts France, ranked fourth, and England, ranked fifth, in the knockout rounds. Although the victories against France and England were narrow, South Africa’s coach Jacques Nienaber’s team managed to find a way to win and will need the same resilience in their upcoming match against the All Blacks.

This challenging path to the title is arguably the most difficult campaign for the Boks, who have won the World Cup three times before. In their maiden triumph in 1995 on home soil, they faced a strong Australian team in the pool stages and had tough encounters against France in the semi-final, played in torrential rain, and New Zealand in the final. In 2007, they had a favorable draw, easily winning all their pool matches before facing Fiji and Argentina in the knockout stages, ultimately leading to a final against an England team that improved throughout the tournament.

In their last World Cup victory four years ago, South Africa lost their opening pool match against New Zealand but still qualified comfortably for the knockout rounds. They then faced hosts Japan and Wales before defeating England in the final, where they dominated the physical battle and emerged victorious with a 32-12 scoreline.

Reporting by Nick Said; editing by Miral Fahmy