New Zealand captain Sam Cane, the first player to be sent off in a World Cup final, was shown a red card for a high tackle as the Springboks led 12-3 despite losing hooker Bongi Mbonambi with a knee injury in the third minute.
Handre Pollard kicked four penalties to make sure that Beauden Barrett’s try and Richie Mo’unga’s six points from the tee would not prevent
South Africa from maintaining their perfect final record as the Springboks won their third game in a row by one point.
Jordie Barrett had a chance to slot the winning penalty with seven minutes left after Cheslin Kolbe was sin-binned for a deliberate knock on, but his attempt went wide and South Africa ended up celebrating their second final win against the All Blacks after their 1995 triumph.
Bronze went to
England, who defeated Argentina 26-23 in a nail-biting third place match on Friday.
