On 2 November 2019, the Springboks lifted the Webb Ellis Cup for a third time after beating England in a memorable final in Yokohama.

The Rugby World Cup triumph over a more-fancied England completed a remarkable turnaround for the Boks, who were written off as contenders in 2018, and was largely attributed to Rassie Erasmus.

The deadly boot of flyhalf Handre Pollard and second-half tries from wings Makazole Mapimpi and Cheslin Kolbe secured victory for the men in green and gold, whose relentless defence and dominance at scrum time proved too much for the English.

Pollard slotted two conversions and six penalties for a personal tally of 22 points to finish as the tournament’s leading scorer with 69.

Mapimpi dotted down in the 67th minute for his sixth try of the tournament, putting in a chip latched on to by Lukhanyo Am, who then flicked it back out wide to the left wing.

Five minutes later, Kolbe rounded off a devastating counter-attack from the Boks after the ball was worked out wide for the fleet-footed No 14 to dart through the defence to deliver the coup de grace for the 1995 and 2007 world champions.

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Photo: Juan Jose Gasparini/Gallo Images