ENGLAND

For the first time in history of the tournament, the Rugby World Cup Final will be contested between two sides that were in the same Pool in the group stages of the competition.

England are aiming to become the first team in the history of the Rugby World Cup to retain their title.

Jonny Wilkinson has kicked 51 penalty goals for England in World Cups; he is the first player to pass the benchmark of 50 penalty goals.

England are hoping to make history against South Africa by becoming the first ever team to win the Rugby World Cup after losing a Pool game.

England fly half, Jonny Wilkinson, will become the first player to reach 250 points at the Rugby World Cup if he scores seven points or more against South Africa in the Final.

Mike Catt will also become the oldest player to feature in a World Cup Final at the age of 36, when he faces South Africa at the Stade de France.

Jason Robinson will play in his last rugby match against South Africa in the 2007 Rugby World Cup Final as he retires from the game after the tournament.

Ben Kay is the only England player to have played in every minute of every match so far at the 2007 Rugby World Cup (a total of 480 minutes). There are only two other players to have achieved this feat – Argentina’s Patricio Albacete and Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe.
 
Both England and South Africa are aiming to become only the second team to win more than one World Cup, so far Australia are the only side in the history of the Rugby World Cup to claim the Webb Ellis Trophy on two occasions (1991 and 1999). South Africa won their first World Cup in 1995 when they were the hosts of the tournament and England won the title in 2003 in Australia.

Jonny Wilkinson is the only player appearing in the 2007 World Cup Final to have successfully kicked a drop goal at the tournament. Mike Catt, Toby Flood, Percy Montgomery, Butch James, and Francois Steyn have all attempted a drop goal in the tournament but they have all missed.

England will equal Australia’s record of appearing in three Rugby World Cup Finals when they face South Africa at the Stade de France.

Mike Catt will play in his 19th Rugby World Cup match when he faces South Africa, moving into third place behind Australia’s George Gregan (20) and England’s Jason Leonard (22) on the all time World Cup appearances list.

England have won five World Cup matches after trailing at half time - the most second-half comebacks by any team in the history of the tournament.

The last time England beat South Africa at the Rugby World Cup was when the two sides met in the group stages in 2003 in Perth (the score was 25-6). 

Jason Robinson, Jonny Wilkinson, Ben Kay, and Phil Vickery will start in their second World Cup Final, with the England team possessing 13 players with winners’ medals from the 2003 tournament.

England have climbed to third in the latest IRB world rankings and if they beat South Africa by more than 15 points in the Rugby World Cup Final, the side will claim top spot.

SOUTH AFRICA

After scoring two tries in the semi-final against Argentina, South African winger Bryan Habana is currently the leading try scorer at the 2007 Rugby World Cup with eight tries to his name. He also surpassed Jaque Fourie (7) as South Africa’s leading try scorer in the history of the World Cup.

Os du Randt, the South African prop, is the only survivor from the 1995 World Cup winning side and if his team are victorious against England, he will be only the sixth person to have been part of two world champion squads. Only five players have achieved this feat – Australia’s Phil Kearns, Tim Horan, Jason Little, Dan Crowley, and John Eales.

Percy Montgomery scored 17 points against Argentina in the semi-final and in doing so he became South Africa’s leading points scorer at the Rugby World Cup. Thus far he has scored a total of 99 points in 11 World Cup matches, needing just one more point to become only the 14th player to reach 100 Rugby World Cup points.

South African full back, Percy Montgomery, needs just seven points to become only the 9th player to score 100 points in a single World Cup tournament. He also needs just five more points to beat Jannie De Beer’s South African record of scoring 97 points in a single Rugby World Cup tournament, a feat that he achieved in the 1999 edition of the competition.

If Bryan Habana scores a try against England in the Rugby World Cup Final, he will beat Jonah Lomu’s record of eight tries in a single World Cup campaign (set in 1999).

If South African centre, Jaque Fourie scores a try against England in the Final, he will join Pieter Rossouw on 21 international tries as the fifth highest try scorer in Springbok history.

South Africa have won the last four encounters with England, scoring a total of 174 points, whereas their opponents have only recorded 46 points. South Africa have also won two of the three Rugby World Cup matches between the two sides. South Africa beat England 44-21 in the quarter-final in 1999, and 36-0 in the group stages of the 2007 tournament.

Percy Montgomery is the leading points scorer at the 2007 Rugby World Cup with 93 points to his name so far, and he is yet to miss a goal kick at the Stade de France in this tournament. Against Argentina he kicked 4/4 conversions and 3/3 penalties, and verses England he scored 3/3 conversions and 4/4 penalties, he also missed two-drop goals in that game (both matches were played at the Stade de France).

Os du Randt will overtake Joost van der Westhuizen as South Africa’s most capped player in the Rugby World Cup, as he makes his 16th appearance at the global tournament in the Final against England.

Bryan Habana has scored 30 tries in 34 internationals, giving him a strike rate of 88.2%, the best ever strike rate by a South African player, beating the previous record held by Danie Gerber (79.2% = 19 tries in 24 Tests).

South Africa are the only team yet to be defeated in the 2007 World Cup - it is a good omen for the Springboks as no team who has lost in the group stages has ever gone on to win the tournament.

South Africa have moved up to second in the latest IRB rankings and if they beat England in the Rugby World Cup Final they will climb above New Zealand to become the number one ranked team in the world.

Bryan Habana has made the most metres so far in this World Cup, gaining 519 metres in six games.

South Africa have won more scrums than any other team so far in the tournament, with a total of 65 scrums won in six matches.

Currently, Victor Matfield has won the most lineouts off his side’s own throw at the 2007 Rugby World Cup, collecting 29 lineouts in six matches. Juan Smith has 10 lineout steals to his name from the six matches he played in – the most in the 2007 tournament so far.

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