South Africa maintain perfect run to win record fourth Rugby World Cup in tense final
South Africa became four-time Rugby World Cup winners with the most nail-biting of 12-11 wins over New Zealand.
A Sam Cane first-half red card looked to be the story of the match, but a resilient All Blacks did their best to ensure it wasn't.
However, despite their best efforts, South Africa just snuck past to become statistically the best, and perhaps the greatest rugby team of all time.
With the pressure of being the holders, the Springboks didn't disappoint in France, beating the toughest of opponents in hosts France and then England before facing joint three-time champions New Zealand.
With history on the line, South Africa came out on top, but it could hardly have been more edgy.
Tennis greats Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic were both in the crowd in Paris and got to witness a final befitting of many of their epics.
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The story of the first half was Cane's yellow which was upgraded to a red -- the first ever in a Rugby World Cup final -- but the All Blacks made sure it wasn't the story of the game.
Fighting back for a six-point deficit at the break at 12-6, they closed the gap even further with a Beauden Barrett try in the second period, although there was some controversy the ball went forward.
The real moment of drama, that may well have decided the match, was from Cheslin Kolbe, whose knock on with the score 12-11 was decisive in his team holding on.
Deemed deliberate, the resulting yellow left Kolbe on the sidelines with his shirt over his head unable to watch, and the feeling was the same for much of the crowd.
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However, upon finally looking up, he saw his teammates close out an almighty victory that puts them in the history books, not just in rugby, but all of sport.