Three duels to savor in Rugby World Cup final

PARIS: Defending champions South Africa and New Zealand battle it out on Saturday bidding to become the first team to win the Rugby World Cup four times.

There are many engrossing battles to be played out across the Stade de France pitch. Here are three of them:

With two tightly matched teams, the game could be decided by which of the two hookers — All Blacks’ Codie Taylor and Springboks Bongi Mbonambi — is more reliable with his delivery to the lineout.

Both are seeking to erase phantoms of the 2019 tournament. Taylor had a dreadful match in the semifinal defeat by England while Mbonambi did end up a World Cup winner but only played the first 20 minutes before suffering a blow to the head and having to leave the field.

The 32-year-old has little choice but to play far longer this time, as he is the sole specialist hooker in the squad.

Converted backrow forward Deon Fourie is on the bench but the difference in class is massive and having been cleared of allegations he made a racial slur at England’s Tom Curry in the semifinal, Mbonambi will be keen to round off the week with a man-of-the-match performance to rival the one he achieved against France.

Jesse Kriel and Jordie Barrett could provide a duel for the ages in the centers on Saturday.

Kriel is making up for the frustration of missing out on the 2019 title, when he suffered an injury in the pool stage, with some huge performances in France.

The 29-year-old center was pivotal to the Springboks’ 29-28 success over hosts France in the quarterfinals, keeping both Gael Fickou and Jonathan Danty fairly quiet.

Not just a stopper, he made 14 tackles in the game and came off bloodied and bruised. His deft kick set up winger Cheslin Kolbe for a try in the first