New Zealand captain Sam Cane became the first player to be sent off in a Rugby World Cup final as South Africa retained their title with a nail-biting 12-11 victory at Stade de France.
Cane was shown a red card for in the 28th minute for a dangerous tackle on Jesse Kriel but the All Blacks responded with character and resilience to take the champions to the wire on a wet Paris night.
Beauden Barrett ran in the first try ever scored against South Africa in a World Cup final as the final quarter approached but, with Richie Mo’unga unable to add the conversion, New Zealand still trailed.
Jordie Barrett then missed a tricky long-range penalty that would have toppled the Springboks and despite furious late attempts to strike from long range they were unable to break through the green wall.
Handre Pollard kicked four first-half penalties but South Africa failed to score again after the interval of one of the greatest finals that ended with the 80,000 crowd on their feet in nervous anticipation.
The victory means South Africa are the most successful nation in men’s World Cup history with their fourth crown nudging them clear of the All Blacks.
And it came despite one of their worst fears materialising in the third minute when Mbongeni Mbonambi – the only specialist hooker in their match day 23 – was injured by a dangerous clear out by Shannon Frizell.
Mbonambi departed and on came Deon Fourie, a 37-year-old who has played most of his rugby in the back row. Referee Wayne Barnes confirmed shortly after that Mbonambi’s departure was tactical only.
Pollard rifled over successive penalties to reward mounting Springboks pressure but, having been shown a yellow card, Frizell survived the bunker review of his offending crocodile roll.
There was no let up in tension on a night dominated by two ferocious defences and the scoreboard continued to tick over when Mo’unga and Pollard took successful shots at goal.
The World Cup’s most ruthless attack was making little headway against its meanest defence and twice New Zealand were turned over as an error-strewn spell was compounded with an overthrown line-out.
Cane was the next All Black into the sin-bin for his high tackle on Kriel and South Africa continued to win every meaningful moment of the contest.
And it got worse for New Zealand as, just moments before Pollard landed his fourth penalty, Cane’s yellow card was upgraded to red by the bunker.
South Africa came under furious attack in response but with Eben Etzebeth cynically returning to an onside position while interfering with play, they only conceded three points to Mo’unga.
Next into the sin bin was Siya Kolisi for a challenge on Savea that resulted in a clash of heads and the All Blacks appeared to have exploited his absence by scoring through Aaron Smith only for an earlier knock-on to be spotted.
Upon Kolisi’s return they succeeded, however, when Mark Telea ran a mazy line and after he dropped the ball a superb pick up by Barrett allowed the full-back to touch down.
Mo’unga missed the conversion so Zealand trailed by a point and there was no let up in drama as the final quarter ebbed and flowed.
Wing Cheslin Kolbe became the third yellow card but Jordie Barrett was wide with the penalty attempt and, in the face of a determined final attack from the All Blacks, South Africa held out to successfully defend the trophy they won against England four years ago.
What is an ETF?
An exchange traded fund is a type of investment fund that can be traded quickly and easily, just like stocks and shares. They come with no upfront costs aside from your brokerage's dealing charges and annual fees, which are far lower than on traditional mutual investment funds. Charges are as low as 0.03 per cent on one of the very cheapest (and most popular), Vanguard S&P 500 ETF, with the maximum around 0.75 per cent.
There is no fund manager deciding which stocks and other assets to invest in, instead they passively track their chosen index, country, region or commodity, regardless of whether it goes up or down.
The first ETF was launched as recently as 1993, but the sector boasted $5.78 billion in assets under management at the end of September as inflows hit record highs, according to the latest figures from ETFGI, a leading independent research and consultancy firm.
There are thousands to choose from, with the five largest providers BlackRock’s iShares, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisers, Deutsche Bank X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.
While the best-known track major indices such as MSCI World, the S&P 500 and FTSE 100, you can also invest in specific countries or regions, large, medium or small companies, government bonds, gold, crude oil, cocoa, water, carbon, cattle, corn futures, currency shifts or even a stock market crash.
Gender equality in the workplace still 200 years away
It will take centuries to achieve gender parity in workplaces around the globe, according to a December report from the World Economic Forum.
The WEF study said there had been some improvements in wage equality in 2018 compared to 2017, when the global gender gap widened for the first time in a decade.
But it warned that these were offset by declining representation of women in politics, coupled with greater inequality in their access to health and education.
At current rates, the global gender gap across a range of areas will not close for another 108 years, while it is expected to take 202 years to close the workplace gap, WEF found.
The Geneva-based organisation's annual report tracked disparities between the sexes in 149 countries across four areas: education, health, economic opportunity and political empowerment.
After years of advances in education, health and political representation, women registered setbacks in all three areas this year, WEF said.
Only in the area of economic opportunity did the gender gap narrow somewhat, although there is not much to celebrate, with the global wage gap narrowing to nearly 51 per cent.
And the number of women in leadership roles has risen to 34 per cent globally, WEF said.
At the same time, the report showed there are now proportionately fewer women than men participating in the workforce, suggesting that automation is having a disproportionate impact on jobs traditionally performed by women.
And women are significantly under-represented in growing areas of employment that require science, technology, engineering and mathematics skills, WEF said.
* Agence France Presse
Brief scores:
Southampton 2
Armstrong 13', Soares 20'
Manchester United 2
Lukaku 33', Herrera 39'
Results
6.30pm: Maiden Dh165,000 (Dirt) 1,600m
Winner: Celtic Prince, David Liska (jockey), Rashed Bouresly (trainer).
7.05pm: Conditions Dh240,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner: Commanding, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar.
7.40pm: Handicap Dh190,000 (D) 2,000m
Winner: Grand Argentier, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson.
8.15pm: Handicap Dh170,000 (D) 2,200m
Winner: Arch Gold, Sam Hitchcott, Doug Watson.
8.50pm: The Entisar Listed Dh265,000 (D) 2,000m
Winner: Military Law, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muhairi.
9.25pm: The Garhoud Sprint Listed Dh265,000 (D) 1,200m
Winner: Ibn Malik, Dane O’Neill, Musabah Al Muhairi.
10pm: Handicap Dh185,000 (D) 1,400m
Winner: Midnight Sands, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson.
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
