Bob Skinstad has announced his retirement from all forms of rugby with immediate effect. This means the controversial player will not tour with the Springbok squad that faces Wales and the Barbarians. Skinstad was also linked to possible moves to French club, Perpignan, or returning to the Stormers, where he made a massive impact during the late 1990′s. Skinstad played a minimal role at the World Cup, only starting the game against Tonga and he sat on the benchfor the semi-final against Argentina.

All the speculation has come to an end, it is official. Jake White has resigned as the Springbok coach and the end of year tour to Wales will be his last as coach. The game against the Barbarians on the 1st of December will be his last game in charge.

At a news conference in Cape Town White thanked the players and staff that he has been involved with over the last 4 years and he said that his time in charge has been ‘a wonderfull honour’.

White has been unhappy with the way SARU handled the situation surrounding the coaching position and at the press conference he again stated that his contract contains a clause that stipulates that SARU was supposed to talk to him first before any applications was considered. White went on to say that “I walk away with no regrets, but plenty of sadness.”

South Africa have been crowned rugby world champions after they convincingly beat England 15-6 in a tense and hard foughts Final at Stade de France in Paris on Saturday.

It’s an unbelievable experience. It hasn’t sunk in yet,” coach Jake White said. “To see the president of our country (Thabo Mbeki) sitting on the players’ shoulders holding the World Cup, it doesn’t get much better than that.

“It’s a massive thing for our country, it doesn’t get bigger than that in the context of where we come from.”

England had the better of territory and possession, but South Africa took their scoring chances and got points when it mattered.

Steyn’s 62nd-minute penalty gave the Springboks a nine-point cushion and they relied on their obdurate defence to see them home.

“I always said defences win World Cups,” added White.

“It’s amazing how history repeats itself. There were no tries in 1995, two tries in the 2003 final and no tries here.

“It just shows important defence is. All credit to my Springboks.

“We were defending so well and we never really felt that they were asking questions of our line.

“When we were two scores ahead and we turned their line-out over, we knew they would have to chase it. We slowed the game down and we have learned that over the past four years.”

White paid tribute to a valiant effort by England, who failed in their bid to keep hold of their crown.

“I think it would be wrong not to compliment England,” he added.

People wrote them off. People talk about pride, passion and teamwork, and they have proved they will not go out without a fight.

“They gave everything they had, but winning back-to-back World Cups is always difficult.”

Captain John Smit poured lavish praise on full-back Montgomery, who was flawless with the boot tonight in kicking four from four.

He also showed a superb positional sense and played the last section of the match injured after being shoved into an off-field camera by England replacement Toby Flood.

“Percy deserves the most accolades out of the group,” said Smit.

“He is the most-capped player in the history of South African rugby and he has copped a lot of criticism.

“But he is the perfect example of a professional. You can’t fault him for the fact that he is brave, he took high balls, kicked the penalties right over and shoulder-charged a camera.

“It must be horrible for the people who have ridiculed him for his looks, his hair and his highlights – they must be disappointed he has won the World Cup for us.”

Smit added: “Twelve years ago, I sat watching the final at Ellis Park and wondered whether it was possible to do it again. Dreams come true.

“I can’t put it into words what it feels like. It’s something that has taken four years and many experiences.

“We have carried the hopes of a nation on our shoulders and now we are taking the trophy back.

“Jake’s words four years ago were that we were going to win the World Cup. He is not a liar.

“We have lost a lot of sleep over the last seven weeks over that little cup.

“The guys said it was hard to get it off me after the match – I said to them I wanted to hold on to it for the rest of my life.”

Moment of the Match: The telling moment was Danie Rossouw’s desperate dive that did just enough to keep Mark Cueto from scoring a try which may well have won the World Cup.

The scorers:

For South Africa:
Pens: Montgomery 4, Steyn

For England:
Pen: Wilkinson 2

South Africa: 15 Percy Montgomery, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Francois Steyn, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Butch James, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Danie Rossouw, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Schalk Burger, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 CJ van der Linde, 2 John Smit (c), 1 Os du Randt.
Replacements: 16 Bismarck du Plessis, 17 Jannie du Plessis, 18 Johannes Muller, 19 Wikus van Heerden, 20 Ruan Pienaar, 21 André Pretorius, 22 Wynand Olivier.

England: 15 Jason Robinson, 14 Paul Sackey, 13 Mathew Tait, 12 Mike Catt, 11 Mark Cueto , 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 9 Andy Gomarsall, 8 Nick Easter, 7 Lewis Moody, 6 Martin Corry, 5 Ben Kay, 4 Simon Shaw, 3 Phil Vickery (c), 2 Mark Regan, 1 Andrew Sheridan.
Replacements: 16 George Chuter, 17 Matt Stevens, 18 Lawrence Dallaglio, 19 Joe Worsley, 20 Peter Richards, 21 Toby Flood, 22 Dan Hipkiss.

Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland)
Touch judges: Joël Jutge (France), Paul Honiss (New Zealand)
Television match official: Stuart Dickinson (Australia)
Assessor: Michel Lamoulie (France)

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Jake White continue to show faith in his players when he named the 22-man squad that faces England in the RWC final on Saturday. The squad contains the core of players that he has worked with the last 4 years and it is the most capped Springbok starting XV of all time. The team shows just one change to the bench, where Wikus van Heerden replaces Bob Skinstad.

SA squad to face England: 15. Percy Montgomery, 14. JP Pietersen, 13. Jaque Fourie. 12. Frans Steyn, 11. Bryan Habana, 10. Butch James, 9. Fourie du Preez, 8. Danie Rossouw, 7. Juan Smith, 6. Schalk Burger, 5. Victor Matfield, 4. Bakkies Botha, 3. CJ van der Linde, 2. John Smit(captain), 1. Os du Randt

Reserves: 16. Bismarck du Plessis, 17. Jannie du Plessis, 18. Johann Muller, 19. Wikus van Heerden, 20. Ruan Pienaar, 21. Andre Pretorius, 22. Wynand Olivier

Os du Randt will be playing in his last test for SA on Saturday and SARB would like to thank him for the service he has given to SA Rugby and SARB wishes him and the rest of the Bokke all the best for the final.

SA qualified for their first RWC final since 1995 when they beat Argentina in their semi-final.

The game was not pretty, both teams made far too many unforced errors for the game to really flow. The Bokke did manage to make the most of their point scoring opportunities and as always the Springbok defence was rock solid.

SA opened the scoring when Fourie du Preez intercepted and ran nearly 60 meters to score the first try of the game. Montgomery converted to give SA a 7-0 lead. Argentina replied with a penalty to reduce the SA lead to four. The 7 point lead was restored by another Percy penalty before Contepomi kicked his second penalty to make the score 10-6 for SA. The final 10 minutes of the first half saw SA take the game away from Argentina. Bryan Habana used his skill and pace to score a great try and then Danie Rossouw rounded of some fantastic handling by the Bokke. Monty converted both to give SA a 24-6 lead at the break.

Argentina did fight back in the second half and they were rewarded a rather dubious try but they never looked like they will beat the Boks. SA dominated the line outs and used the good quality possession to kick themselves into good territory. Here Butch James and Fourie du Preez proved how good they are. Bryan Habana scored his second of the match when he intercepted and ran 80 meters to round off. Montgomery converted and added 2 penalties to secure victory for SA. Final score: SA 37 Argentina 13

SA will now play England in the final on Saturday 20 October.

SARB decided to rate the SA players on their performance:

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England surprised the rugby world on Saturday evening when they beat France in their semi-final clash. England started the game like a house on fire, scoring the only try of the game after just two minutes when Josh Lewsey gathered a lucky bounce to crash over in the corner. France recovered from this early setback and took the lead through 3 penalties by flyhalf, Lionel Beauxis. This secured France a 9-5 lead at half time. England defended well the entire game and with their dominant pack of forwards providing good ball, Jonny Wilkinson kicked them into good field position. Two penalties saw England sneak into the lead with 8 minutes left on the clock. Wilkinson then sealed the victory when he slotted his 5th drop goal of the 2007 RWC. Final score: England 14 France 9

England now have the chance to become the first team to win back to back RWC titles when they defend their title next week Saturday.

Jake White made one change to the starting XV for the semi-final against Argentina on Sunday.

CJ van der Linde regains his place in the starting XV in place of Jannie du Plessis who moves down to the bench. Bismarck du Plessis replaces Gary Botha among the reserves and in a surprising move White dropped in form Wikus van Heerden from his 22-man squad and replaces him with Bob Skinstad.

SA squad to face Argentina: 15. Percy Montgomery, 14. JP Pietersen, 13. Jaque Fourie, 12. Franscois Steyn, 11. Bryan Habana, 10. Butch James, 9. Fourie du Preez, 8. Danie Rossouw, 7. Juan Smith, 6. Schalk Burger, 5. Victor Matfield, 4. Bakkies Botha, 3. CJ van der Linde, 2. John Smit(captain), 1. Os du Randt

Reserves: 16. Bismarck du Plessis, 17. Jannie du Plessis, 18. Johann Muller, 19. Bob Skinstad, 20. Ruan Pienaar, 21. Andre Pretorius, 22. Wynand Olivier.

SARB hereby wishes the Bokke all the best for the game.

Argentina made history when they beat Scotland in their quarterfinal of RWC 2007. The victory means that Argentina advances to the semi-finals for the first time ever.

The last of the quarter finals did not produce as much drama as the other 3 games. The game never really flowed, both teams made to many errors and relied on their kickers to get them into attacking positions. Scotland took the early lead through Dan Parks, but Argentina struck back through Felipe Contepomi’s boot. The only try of the first half belonged to the Pumas. The try was the result of some great pressure and a kick by Dan Parks got charged down. Scotland tried their best in the second half and managed to close the gap on the score board but to many errors saw their chance of winning the game slip out the back door. Argentina is still unbeaten at the RWC 2007 and deserve all the praise they are getting. Final score: Argentina 19 Scotland 13

SA were made to work hard by Fiji in a game that the Bokke failed to dominate. The Bokke did not stick to their game plan and these wrong tactical decisions nearly caused another upset at RWC 2007.

SA started the game well and went out to a 13-0 lead thanks to tries by Jaque Fourie and John Smit and it looked like the Bokke had the game wrapped up. Then SA decided to vary their game plan and they tried to play open running rugby. This style of play suits Fiji, they are the best 7′s players in the world, and they made a great comeback. With 20 minutes left on the clock the scores were level and Fiji were making the most of SA’s lack of tactical surety. John Smit managed to calm his team down and with the team going back to doing the basics well SA managed to secure victory. Jake White will not be happy with the way his team played for the first 60 minutes but they did show a degree of calmness in the last 20 minutes. SA must think that the officials at the RWC have something against them. Fiji was allowed to get away with dangerous tackles, swinging arms, offside at the ruck and throwing the ball in skew at the line outs. Hopefully the SA management will take this up with the citing official and there will be action taken against the foul play of Fiji. Final score: SA 37 Fiji 20

SARB decided to rate the SA players on their performance:

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New Zealand will have to wait 4 more years to make an attempt at winning the RWC that they last won in 1987.

New Zealand started the game in their normal dominant fashion, racing out to a 13-0 lead thanks to a Luke McAllister try and the boot of Dan Carter. The French tactics of kicking the ball deep into the New Zealand half did not work. The All Blacks ran the ball back at them and managed to keep the ball alive and only good defence from les bleus kept the score down. The French managed to get on the score board through a Beauxis penalty just before the break. After half time the French kept the ball in hand more and they were rewarded with another Beauxis penalty. This sparked a fantastic comeback by the French and they drew level after Thierry Dusautoir crashed over for a try and Beauxis converted. The All Blacks regained the lead when So’oialo went over for his try but the French were not to be denied. A brilliant break by Frederic Michalak saw Yannick Jauzion score to level the score. The conversion by Jean-Baptiste Elissalde was good and the French were through to thje semi-finals of RWC 2007. Final score: France 20 New Zealand 18