Rugby World Cup 2019: The Breakdown – A statistical look at England v South Africa

The Rugby World Cup final is upon us. England and South Africa will face off in Yokohama on Saturday, with the winner lifting the Webb Ellis Cup.

Both sides have enjoyed fantastic runs to this stage, with England winning every match they have played at the finals and dominating two-time defending champions New Zealand in the last four.

The Springboks were beaten by the All Blacks in their opening match but have recovered in impressive fashion, closing on a third title.

With the help of Opta data, we look at the key numbers ahead of what promises to be an enthralling final between two worthy winners.
 

2 – England have won back-to-back Tests against South Africa, but their record against the Springboks had previously been nothing to shout about. They managed just one victory in their prior 15 meetings.

33 – Eddie Jones’ team will need to be at it from the off on Saturday. South Africa having gone on to win 33 of their 35 World Cup matches in which they have led at the break.

27 – The average age of @EnglandRugby‘s starting XVs at #RWC2019 is 27 years and 63 days, the youngest of any Tier 1 side and the 3rd youngest overall behind Uruguay (26y 140d) and Namibia (27y 43d). Future. pic.twitter.com/gbI7wNZ8Pz

— OptaJonny (@OptaJonny) October 31, 2019

89 – Owen Farrell needs just 11 points to become the second player to reach 100 World Cup points for England after Jonny Wilkinson, who accumulated 277.

0 – South Africa won the previous two World Cup finals they appeared in, but both victories came without either side scoring a try.

1 – If England beat Rassie Erasmus’ side, they will become the first team to beat Australia, New Zealand and South Africa in a single World Cup campaign.

407 – Springbok Damian de Allende is one of only three players to have played more minutes at this tournament than England duo Elliot Daly and Tom Curry, who have each clocked up 400.

3 – The sides have previously met four times in the World Cup, with South Africa coming out on top in three of those matches. Their most recent World Cup meeting came in the 2007 final, which the Springboks won 15-6.

15% – The @Springboks have chosen to box kick the ball from 15% of rucks when they’ve been in possession, by far the highest ratio of any side at #RWC2019, @EnglandRugby rank 6th in this category. Boks. pic.twitter.com/1KFlkwnedd

— OptaJonny (@OptaJonny) October 30, 2019

140 – Handre Pollard has scored more points at a World Cup than any other South Africa player, although he is yet to score a try in the competition.

50 – Siya Kolisi is set to earn his 50th Test cap and his 20th as Springboks captain.

98 – South Africa have the best lineout success rate of any side at this World Cup, having only lost one, which came in their semi-final win over Wales.

4 – This will be England’s fourth appearance in the final, a joint record alongside Australia and the All Blacks.

27 – Jonny May needs one more try to equal Jason Robinson on 28 for England, the joint-fifth most for England. He has four in six appearances against the Springboks.

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