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 … Continue reading Rugby World Cup Fixtures 2023