New Zealand captain Sam Cane has become the first ever player to be red-carded in a World Cup final, as South Africa went on to make the man advantage count. Not the history he was aiming for.
The All Blacks skipper was sin-binned, at first, but his yellow for a high shot on Jesse Kriel was upgraded to a red after a review by the officials in the 'bunker'.
Cane was trying to make a dominant hit inside the Springbok 22 but he was too high and was asking for trouble with the shot.
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Wayne Barnes irked All Blacks before Sam Cane red
Even before that huge moment, Wayne Barnes had annoyed New Zealand by awarding a penalty against Ardie Savea when it looked as though he had won a breakdown turnover.
As Handre Pollard lined up a penalty, which he kicked to make it 9-3, Barnes told the Kiwis he had seen the replay, was sorry but was sticking to his call.
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South Africa win fourth World Cup
Both nations were gunning for their fourth World Cup title.
Ahead of the game, Sam Cane had spoken about wanting to send departing coach Ian Foster off on a high. "We’ve got so many reasons to want to play well. One’s not bigger than the other. We want to make New Zealand proud. The support has been truly overwhelming, it makes you so damn proud to be a Kiwi. That’s probably our biggest driving factor.
"There are probably plenty of other little factors as well. It’s easy to let your mind drift to how it’s going to feel if we get the outcome we want, but you have got to be disciplined and bring it back to what’s in front of you."
The Springboks won 12-11 after going in 12-6 up at the break. Beauden Barrett scored a try in the corner but Richie Mo'unga missed the conversion and Jordie Barrett missed a penalty in the final 10 minutes.
