The 2023 Rugby World Cup will draw to a thrilling conclusion on the evening of Saturday 28 October, as New Zealand and South Africa do battle in the final, with SuperSport viewers on DStv set to have a front-row seat to all the action. DStv is the home of the Springboks on the African continent, and this year, all active DStv subscribers from DStv Pula to Premium will be able to enjoy the big game.
“It has been an absolutely thrilling Rugby World Cup and we couldn’t be more ecstatic to bring the highly anticipated final game to all of our active DStv subscribers, regardless of their package,” says Thembile Legwaila, MultiChoice Botswana Head of Marketing. “Sport is a unifier and the power it has to bring people together in support of their favourite teams is a big part of why we do what we do through delivering the best in entertainment to our Botswana audiences.”
The anticipation for the Rugby World Cup final has extended way beyond the South African fan, as the face-off between the All Blacks and Springboks is the average Rugby fans’ dream face-off filled with significant legacy and history.
The All Blacks lost the World Cup’s opening match to host nation France and therefore finished second in Group A, before a cliff-hanger of a win over Ireland (28-24) and an impressive destruction of Argentina (44-6) in the quarterfinal and semi-final respectively.
The Springboks only managed second spot in Group B thanks to a narrow loss at the hands of Ireland, before nail-biting one-point wins over France (29-28) and England (16-15) in the quarterfinal and semi-final respectively.
Now these two Southern Hemisphere giants will battle at the Stade de France outside of Paris to decide which nation will become the first to win a fourth Rugby World Cup title: New Zealand’s triumphs were in 1987, 2011 and 2015, while South Africa’s were in 1995, 2007 and 2019.
This match will also see the pair meet for the second time in a Rugby World Cup final, with the 1995 edition in Johannesburg, South Africa, going the way of the Springboks (15-12), after extra time, thanks to Joel Stransky’s drop goal – perhaps the most famous three points scored in the history of the sport.
“It is a fantastic and exciting week that lies ahead of us. Our battles with the All Blacks … there is a lot of history between us,” said Springboks assistant coach Deon Davids.
“We have played them a couple of times this year but going into a World Cup final I don’t think any of those previous encounters count. It is a totally new game, under new circumstances, playing for the World Cup. We will have to be on top of our plan and our execution this week.
“You can see that throughout the competition New Zealand have been playing excellent rugby. They are also in a really good space, so it is going to be a hard-fought battle on Saturday, and we need to make sure we tick a lot of boxes in our preparation.”
New Zealand’s Tamaiti Williams is relishing his first year of Test rugby but has admitted that the physicality of the Springboks will be a major challenge in the final: “They are great scrummagers, as we all know,” he said.
“If I get the opportunity to be out there on Saturday, I’ll be up for the challenge. But it all starts with the preparation, and we’ll have a closer look at how we can counter that.
“They are massive, and clinical. If you give them a chance, they all take it. For us, it is all about being clean. You must match the physicality. Everyone knows what they are going to bring. We had a good win against them [in Auckland] and we got a hiding against them [at Twickenham] as well.”
SuperSport will build excitement for the match with re-broadcasts of the semi-finals, as well as the third-place playoff between Argentina and England on the evening of Friday 27 November. Saturday will also feature a significant build-up, starting at 19:00 CAT, with in-depth insights from a panel of experts before the biggest rugby match of the decade so far.
Get connected, stay connected or upgrade your DStv subscription to ensure you don’t miss the Rugby World Cup Final! To upgrade, reconnect or manage your subscription download the MyDStv app on your mobile app store or visit www.dstv.com to join in on the excitement and manage your account. On the move, download the DStv Stream app from your mobile app store and catch all the rugby action!
2023 Rugby World Cup Final broadcast details
All times CAT
Saturday 28 October
19:00: Match build up – LIVE on SuperSport Grandstand, SuperSport Rugby and SuperSport Variety 4
21:00: New Zealand v South Africa – LIVE on SuperSport Grandstand, SuperSport Rugby and SuperSport Variety 4
