[T]wo months of bruising competition and occasional upsets have led exactly where history promised: The final that purists wanted to see between the two most decorated rugby nations in the world, South Africa and New Zealand.

The Springboks and the All Blacks have each won the tournament three times, meaning that by Saturday night, one or the other will have been crowned champion in seven of the 10 World Cups ever held. And what makes this matchup so compelling is that these two squads couldn't have taken more different approaches to get there. 

The All Blacks remain the closest thing international rugby union has to the New York Yankees, despite a shocking wobble that saw them lose five out of six matches from late 2021 to mid-2022 and nearly cost coach Ian Foster his job. The country of just five million people--roughly the population of Alabama--still funnels all of its quickest, strongest athletes into rugby and aims not just to win, but to dazzle. 

With their open, free-running style, they have scored 48 tries at this World Cup while no other team racked up more than 30. They have won games by an average of 41 points and looked an awful lot like the powerful machine that won back to back titles in 2011 and 2015. If ever a team believed it was a permanent ad for the beauty of rugby, New Zealand would be it.

"It's everything," Foster said. "It's the goal."

South Africa has far fewer concerns about aesthetics. The Springboks aren't among the top three scoring teams at the World Cup and they only rank eighth in runs with the ball, despite playing the maximum number of games. But those aren't the qualities that made them the No. 1 team in the sport. The Springboks, who rounded into form just in time for the World Cup, are rugby's ultimate grinders. And they have proven to be utterly maddening for opponents to face here.

"They are never out of it," New Zealand defense coach Scott McLeod said. "They come from a country where they are hardened and they know how to stay in the fight."

Part of it comes down to South Africa's radical reimagining of how many people it actually takes to win a rugby match.