The Rugby World Cup 2023 fixtures concluded with a pulsating grand final at Stade de France.
And it was defending champions South Africa who emerged as victors once again after a 12-11 defeat of New Zealand. Handré Pollard kicked four penalties for the Springboks, with Richie Mo’unga landing two and Beauden Barrett scoring the only try of the final in Paris.
But the biggest talking point was the sending-off of All Blacks skipper Sam Cane for a high tackle on Jesse Kriel after 27 minutes.
Related: Sam Cane receives first-ever red card in a World Cup final
In the first of the semi-finals, New Zealand breezed to a 44-6 win over a lacklustre Argentina side. Will Jordan bagged a hat-trick and finished as top try-scorer in the tournament with eight – a joint record with Jonah Lomu (1999), Bryan Habana (2007) and Julian Savea (2015).
Meanwhile South Africa gained a fortuitous 16-15 win against England courtesy of Pollard’s long-range penalty with less than three minutes remaining.
Remarkably, the Springboks won all three of their knockout matches by a single point. They are the first country to be world champions on four occasions.
England defeated Argentina 26-23 in the bronze medal match.
Below are all the results from the competition, along with brief reports.
Rugby World Cup 2023 Results
POOL A – New Zealand, France, Italy, Uruguay, Namibia
Fri 8 Sept France 27-13 New Zealand (Paris) France inflict first RWC pool defeat on NZ
Sat 9 Sept Italy 52-8 Namibia (Saint-Étienne) Italy blow Namibia away in second half
Thu 14 Sept France 27-12 Uruguay (Lille) France given huge scare by impressive Uruguay
Fri 15 Sept New Zealand 71-3 Namibia (Toulouse) De Groot red card mars 11-try romp
Wed 20 Sept Italy 38-17 Uruguay (Nice) Italy survive first-half scare
Thu 21 Sept France 96-0 Namibia (Marseille) Record France win marred by Dupont injury
Wed 27 Sept Uruguay 36-26 Namibia (Lyon) Huge comeback denies Namibia first RWC win
Fri 29 Sept New Zealand 96-17 Italy (Lyon) Aaron Smith hat-trick as New Zealand run riot
Thu 5 Oct New Zealand 73-0 Uruguay (Lyon) Three tries disallowed in quick succession
Fri 6 Oct France 60-7 Italy (Lyon) Hosts France book quarter-final with impressive win
POOL B – South Africa, Ireland, Scotland, Romania, Tonga
Sat 9 Sept Ireland 82-8 Romania (Bordeaux) Ireland crush Romania with record score
Sun 10 Sept South Africa 18-3 Scotland (Marseille) South Africa escape Kriel red card
Sat 16 Sept Ireland 59-16 Tonga (Nantes) Sexton becomes Ireland’s record point-scorer
Sun 17 Sept South Africa 76-0 Romania (Bordeaux) Reinach and Mapimpi bag hat-tricks
Sat 23 Sept South Africa 8-13 Ireland (Paris) Ireland beat South Africa in classic
Sun 24 Sept Scotland 45-17 Tonga (Nice) A first Scotland World Cup win in 2023
Sat 30 Sept Scotland 84-0 Romania (Lille) Scotland try blitz boosts points difference
Sun 1 Oct South Africa 49-18 Tonga (Marseille) Watch Koch’s shoulder set up SA try
Sat 7 Oct Ireland 36-14 Scotland (Paris) Ireland-All Blacks is on after Scots seen off
Sun 8 Oct Tonga 45-24 Romania (Lille) Romania and Tonga put on gloriously bonkers display
POOL C – Wales, Australia, Fiji, Georgia, Portugal
Sat 9 Sept Australia 35-15 Georgia (Paris) Australia ease past Georgia
Sun 10 Sept Wales 32-26 Fiji (Bordeaux) Watch Fiji stun Wales with sensational try
Sat 16 Sept Wales 28-8 Portugal (Nice) Watch Louis Rees-Zammit celebrate like Ronaldo
Sun 17 Sept Australia 15-22 Fiji (Saint-Étienne) Fiji beat Australia for first time in 69 years
Sat 23 Sept Georgia 18-18 Portugal (Toulouse) Georgia and Portugal in thrilling 18-18 draw
Sun 24 Sept Wales 40-6 Australia (Lyon) Wales batter woeful Wallabies
Sat 30 Sept Fiji 17-12 Georgia (Bordeaux) Fiji move to brink of quarter-finals
Sun 1 Oct Australia 34-14 Portugal (Saint-Étienne) Australia keep their faint hopes alive
Sat 7 Oct Wales 43-19 Georgia (Nantes) Rees-Zammit ensures a Welsh clean sweep
Sun 8 Oct Fiji 23-24 Portugal (Toulouse) Fiji reach quarter-finals despite sensational defeat
POOL D – England, Japan, Argentina, Samoa, Chile
Sat 9 Sept England 27-10 Argentina (Marseille) Ford fires 14-man England to huge upset
Sun 10 Sept Japan 42-12 Chile (Toulouse) Japan beat World Cup debutants Chile
Sat 16 Sept Samoa 43-10 Chile (Bordeaux) Samoa power to victory over Chile
Sun 17 Sept England 34-12 Japan (Nice) England put one foot in quarter-final
Fri 22 Sept Argentina 19-10 Samoa (Saint-Étienne) See silly Samoa card after 30 seconds
Sat 23 Sept England 71-0 Chile (Lille) Henry Arundell and the England next gen score freely
Thu 28 Sept Japan 28-22 Samoa (Toulouse) Japan stay in the fight by seeing off Samoa
Sat 30 Sept Argentina 59-5 Chile (Nantes) Argentina set up quarter-final shootout
Sat 7 Oct England 18-17 Samoa (Lille) Late Danny Care heroics spare England’s blushes
Sun 8 Oct Japan 27-39 Argentina (Nantes) Argentina advance after Carreras hat-trick
Quarter-finals
Sat 14 Oct Wales 17-29 Argentina (Marseille) Interception sees Pumas race into semis
Sat 14 Oct Ireland 24-28 New Zealand (Paris) Ireland left heartbroken by All Blacks
Sun 15 Oct England 30-24 Fiji (Marseille) England repel ferocious Fiji comeback
Sun 15 Oct France 28-29 South Africa (Paris) Ruthless Springboks knock out hosts
Semi-finals
Fri 20 Oct Argentina 6-44 New Zealand (Paris) All Blacks cruise into their fifth final
Sat 21 Oct England 15-16 South Africa (Paris) Nervy Springboks scrape into the final
Third-place match
Fri 27 Oct England 26-23 Argentina (Paris) England win bronze as RWC goes full circle
Final
Sat 28 Oct New Zealand 11-12 South Africa (Paris) Boks beat 14-man All Blacks by one point
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Rugby World Cup 2019 Results
POOL A
Ireland, Scotland, Japan, Russia, Samoa
Fri 20 Sep Japan 30-10 Russia (Tokyo) Match report
Sun 22 Sep Ireland 27-3 Scotland (Yokohama) Match Report
Tue 24 Sep Russia 9-34 Samoa (Kumagaya) Match Report
Sat 28 Sep Japan 19-12 Ireland (Shizuoka) Match Report
Mon 30 Sep Scotland 34-0 Samoa (Kobe), Match Report
Thu 3 Oct Ireland 35-0 Russia (Kobe), Match Report
Sat 5 Oct Japan 38-19 Samoa (Toyota) Match Report
Wed 9 Oct Scotland 61-0 Russia (Shizuoka) Match Report
Sat 12 Oct Ireland 47-5 Samoa (Fukuoka) Match Report
Sun 13 Oct Japan 28-21 Scotland (Yokohama) Match Report
POOL B
New Zealand, South Africa, Italy, Namibia, Canada
Sat 21 Sep New Zealand 23-13 South Africa (Yokohama) Match report
Sun 22 Sep Italy 47-22 Namibia (Osaka) Match Report
Thu 26 Sept Italy 48-7 Canada (Fukuoka) Match report
Sat 28 Sep South Africa 57-3 Namibia (Toyota) Match report
Wed 2 Oct New Zealand 63-0 Canada (Oita) Match Report
Fri 4 Oct South Africa 49-3 Italy (Shizuoka) Match Report
Sun 6 Oct New Zealand 71-9 Namibia (Tokyo) Match report
Tue 8 Oct South Africa 66-7 Canada (Kobe), Match Report
Sat 12 Oct New Zealand 0-0 Italy (Toyota), Match cancelled – click here for story
Sun 13 Oct Namibia 0-0 Canada (Kamaishi), Match cancelled – click here for story
POOL C
England, France, Argentina, USA, Tonga
Sat 21 Sep France 23-21 Argentina (Tokyo) Match report
Sun 22 Sep England 35-3 Tonga (Sapporo) Match report
Thu 26 Sep England 45-7 USA (Kobe) Match Report
Sat 28 Sep Argentina 28-12 Tonga (Osaka), Match Report
Wed 2 Oct France 33-9 USA (Fukuoka), Match Report
Sat 5 Oct England 39-10 Argentina (Tokyo) Match Report
Sun 6 Oct France 23-21 Tonga (Kumamoto) Match report
Wed 9 Oct Argentina 47-17 USA (Kumagaya) Match Report
Sat 12 Oct England 0-0 France (Yokohama), Match cancelled – click here for story
Sun 13 Oct USA 19-31 Tonga (Osaka) Match report
POOL D
Australia, Wales, Georgia, Fiji, Uruguay
Sat 21 Sep Australia 39-21 Fiji (Sapporo) Match report
Mon 23 Sep Wales 43-14 Georgia (Toyota) Match report
Wed 25 Sep Fiji 27-30 Uruguay (Kamaishi) Match report
Sun 29 Sep Georgia 33-7 Uruguay (Kumagaya) Match Report
Sun 29 Sep Australia 25-29 Wales (Tokyo) Match report
Thu 3 Oct Georgia 10-45 Fiji (Osaka), Match Report
Sat 5 Oct Australia 45-10 Uruguay (Oita) Match report
Wed 9 Oct Wales 29-17 Fiji (Oita) Match Report
Fri 11 Oct Australia 27-8 Georgia (Shizuoka) Match Report
Sun 13 Oct Wales 35-13 Uruguay (Kumamoto) Match Report
Quarter-finals
Sat 19 Oct England 40-16 Australia (Oita) Match Report
Sat 19 Oct New Zealand 46-14 Ireland (Tokyo) Match Report
Sun 20 Oct Wales 20-19 France (Oita) Match Report
Sun 20 Oct Japan 3-26 South Africa (Tokyo) Match Report
Semi-finals
Sat 26 Oct England 19-7 New Zealand (Yokohama) Match Report
Sun 27 Oct Wales 16-19 South Africa (Yokohama) Match Report
Third-place play-off
Fri 1 Nov New Zealand 40-17 Wales (Tokyo) Match Report
World Cup Final
Sat 2 Nov England 12-32 South Africa (Yokohama) Match Report
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