Rugby World Cup 2019: New Zealand vs South Africa Result and Highlights

The fourth match of the Rugby World Cup 2019 featured the defending champions New Zealand taking on South Africa in a Pool B clash on 21st September at the International Stadium Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Yokohama City.

The first half of the match saw New Zealand utterly dominate South Africa as the former took a 17-3 lead before the break while in the second half, South Africa scored 10 points but still were not able to get past New Zealand's score. Thus, New Zealand won the game by a good lead.

So without further ado, let's get to the result and highlights of the match.

Final Score: New Zealand 23-13 South Africa

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Match #4, New Zealand vs. South Africa Highlights

• Romain Poite, who was the referee of the match, blew his whistle, and the game started.
• A mistake soon after from New Zealand handed South Africa yet a penalty and Pollard made no mistake as he picked up three points.
• Pollard missed a rather straightforward penalty after drawing the first blood.
• A penalty was called against South Africa as Richie Mo’unga made no mistake and collected three points to his name.
• The first try of the match came courtesy of New Zealand's George Bridge, who took over from Reece's initiation as New Zealand led 10-3
• New Zealand's aggression brought about yet another try, this time courtesy of Scott Barrett, who took over from Anton Lienert-Brown's start who found a few yards of space near halfway. Mo’unga pocketed two more points with a perfect conversion which brought about a 14-point lead for New Zealand.
• At the half-time mark, New Zealand enjoyed a massive 17-3 lead against South Africa.
• The second half started on a positive note for South Africa as Pieter-Steph du Toit scored a try to bring about five important points before a two-point conversion from Pollard that reduced the deficit to 7 points.
• Pollard was on top of his game yet proved to be the game-changer for his side as he scored through a drop goal from to bring about three points as South Africa managed to reduce the lead with the scoreline reading 17-13.
• A penalty was called against South Africa as Richie Mo’unga made no mistake and collected three points to his name.
• South Africa looked exhausted on the field as New Zealand were awarded yet another penalty which Barrett converted with ease and brought about three points. New Zealand now had a 23-13 lead as South Africa desperately looked out for scoring options.
• After the full-time mark, New Zealand clinched a ten-point win.

South Africa turned around the momentum after half-time, which was impressive. But they missed a couple of chances which was disappointing. And no team seems to dominate the defending champions New Zealand.

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