The year in World Cups: how Springboks won rugby’s battle of fine margins

South Africa and their inspirational captain, Siya Kolisi, won their three knockout games in France by a single point

It is a relatively little-known fact that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes, was a keen rugby fan. He travelled to France, South Africa and New Zealand to watch games and, in 1924, wrote in his autobiography that he regarded rugby as “the best collective sport” because of its physical and mental requirements. Even Holmes’ trusty companion, Watson, was credited with playing on the wing for England’s oldest club, Blackheath, back in the day.

So what would the famous detective have deduced, almost exactly a century later, from studying the 2023 Rugby World Cup? It is easy to imagine him exhaling a cloud of pipe smoke in his Baker Street lodgings and concluding the competition was ultimately defined by what did not happen. The hosts France were not borne shoulder-high through the streets of Paris with the trophy, the Irish could not sustain their fans’ fondest dreams and, in the final, the All Black dog did not bark in the night-time. All were eventually outflanked by a South African side who were a little bit stronger and cuter than the rest.

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