Springboks in dreamland! Three key takeaways from Rugby World Cup final

South Africa won a record fourth Rugby World Cup title on Saturday, beating three-time winners New Zealand 12-11 in a thrilling and gritty encounter at the Stade de France.

AFP Sport picks out three key things from the final:

Flood of cards

Prior to Saturday's match only New Zealand's Ben Smith in 2015 had been yellow carded in a final. By the end of the match at the Stade de France four had been sin binned and All Blacks captain Sam Cane made history in becoming the first player to be red carded.

Cane had dreamed of lifting the Webb Ellis trophy to make history for the All Blacks being the first team to win the title four times.

FIRST TAKE | Springboks, SA cry tears of joy together after reaching World Cup immortality

But the 31-year-old could only sit impotently on the sidelines after his yellow for a high tackle on Jesse Kriel was upgraded to a red towards the end of the first-half.

He sat looking astonished on his seat pitchside as referee Wayne Barnes waved the card towards him.

Cane's seat had been warmed for him by teammate Shannon Frizell when the flanker's knee went in on Bongi Mbonambi's knee in an illegal ruck clear-out.

At one point Cane could have been joined by the Springbok skipper Siya Kolisi as the flanker was yellow carded for a high tackle early in the second-half.

However, he was cleared to return, only for his teammate Cheslin Kolbe to be sent to the seat as the match wound down to its climax.

Hookers' tale of woe

Neither of the starting hookers made it to the end of the match.

Mbomambi's lasted just three minutes -- 18 minutes less than he spent on the pitch in the 2019 final when a knock to the head ended his interest in the game.

The early withdrawal of the Springboks' only specialist hooker was