New Zealand 34
T: Milner-Skudder, Nonu, Barrett. P: Carter 4. C: Carter 2. DG: Carter
Australia 17
T: Pocock, Kuridrani. P: Foley. C: Foley 2
New Zealand Ben Smith; Nehe Milner-Skudder, Conrad Smith, Ma’a Nonu, Julian Savea; Dan Carter, Aaron Smith; Joe Moody, Dane Coles, Owen Franks, Brodie Retallick, Sam Whitelock, Jerome Kaino, Richie McCaw (c), Kieran Read.
Replacements Keven Mealamu, Ben Franks, Charlie Faumuina, Victor Vito, Sam Cane, Tawera Kerr-Barlow, Beauden Barrett, Sonny Bill Williams.
Australia Israel Folau; Adam Ashley-Cooper, Tevita Kuridrani, Matt Giteau, Drew Mitchell; Bernard Foley, Will Genia; Scott Sio, Stephen Moore (c), Sekope Kepu, Kane Douglas, Rob Simmons, Scott Fardy, Michael Hooper, David Pocock.
Replacements Tatafu Polota-Nau, James Slipper, Greg Holmes, Dean Mumm, Ben McCalman, Nick Phipps, Matt Toomua, Kurtley Beale.
Attendance 80,125 at Twickenham Referee Nigel Owens (Wales)
Kick-off 4pm GMT. Live on ITV1.
NEW ZEALAND captain Richie McCaw and legendary fly-half Dan Carter capped their splendid careers as the All Blacks became the first team ever to retain the Rugby World Cup.
Man of the match Carter was sublime, producing a near-perfect display with the boot as the New Zealanders won the William Webb Ellis trophy outside of their own country for the first time.
But, much more than that, the victory over Australia at Twickenham confirmed this All Blacks generation as easily the best team of its era.
Indeed, with little debate, they can be considered one of the greatest sporting outfits of all time.
Of course, for the 33-year-old Carter personally, this Final was one of those truly wonderful moments of sporting redemption after he had cruelly missed nearly all of the 2011 tournament through injury.
Not that this success came in as straightforward a fashion as the final scoreline perhaps suggests.
Yes, the first half at Twickenham was, in fact, a largely cagey affair with Carter striking three penalties in the first 36 minutes to one from his Aussie counterpart Bernard Foley.
It looked then as if the All Blacks would hold a no-more-than-handy 9-3 interval lead - but, as half-time neared, winger Nehe Milner-Skudder had other ideas.
An appropriate scorer in a match which waved goodbye to so many All Blacks legends, the 24-year-old, in many ways, is a representative of the next generation of New Zealand players to come through their awesome system.
If he is indeed the standard-bearer for the new era, then it would be fair to say that New Zealand rugby is clearly in safe hands.
Coincidentally, that is exactly what he showed when collecting a pass from McCaw to complete a fine, flowing move - and, following Carter's conversion, the half-time lead was a much more comfortable looking 16-3.
Early in the second period, it got even better for New Zealand as they extended their advantage to 21-3 following a virtuoso individual effort from another retiree Ma'a Nonu.
Starting from just inside the Australians' half, Nonu burst through the game line before out-sprinting three forlorn tacklers to complete a magnificent moment. What a way for him to finish.
The only question at that stage was whether the game was also finished as a contest - but, thankfully for the sake of the Final as a showpiece, the Wallabies were in no mood for giving up.
Their first proper breakthrough came 10 minutes after Nonu's try when full-back Ben Smith was sin-binned for a dangerous tackle deep inside his own 22.
From the resultant line-out, Australia made their numerical advantage count - and David Pocock, the best forward of the tournament, forced his way over.
Still, Australia needed more if they were going to truly threaten an amazing comeback - but still they would not give up - and, indeed, they made it two tries apiece with just over 15 minutes left.
Tevita Kuridrani was the scorer of the Wallabies' second, receiving a pass inside from Foley after Will Genia had kicked the ball from the back of a ruck down the right hand side.
New Zealand looked completely caught out by the Aussie resurgence - and, with just four points in it, there was a general feeling that somehow the contest was slipping away from them.
The mark of true champions, though, is to react quickly to adversity - and, within five minutes of getting a fright on Hallowe'en, the All Blacks could begin to breathe more easily again.
For, with only 10 minutes left on the clock, Carter executed only his eighth-ever international drop goal - and, as rare as they are, this was nevertheless a gorgeous kick from all of 40 metres out.
Of course, at a difference of seven points, Australia were still very much in the match, requiring only a converted try to tie.
So it was only when Carter knocked over a outstanding straight penalty from the half-way line with five minutes left that New Zealand were home and hosed.
Finally, it seemed they could relax a little - and, better still, they produced one more party trick, one more act to enjoy after the panicked Australians lost the ball in the New Zealand 22.
Ben Smith rushed forward and dinked a neat kick forward into the totally unoccupied opposition territory for Beauden Barrett to run onto.
Barrett himself kicked the ball forward towards the line before a kind bounce allowed him to collect and complete the job.
Notably, that try meant that, at an aggregate of 51 points, this was the highest scoring Rugby World Cup Final in history, a testament to the flowing nature of the second half.
As already pointed out on this blog, the north still has much to learn from the south about how to play this game even if Australia, of course, will take little comfort from that right now.
This was, after all, the All Blacks' day and the All Blacks' tournament - a World Cup for the glorious generation of McCaw, Carter, Nonu, Conrad Smith and others.
It seems only fair, though, to give the final word to match-winner Carter who summed up his emotions brilliantly in his post-tournament comments.
“It is a great way to finish my Test career,” he said. “I am pretty grateful to be where I am considering what happened four years ago. I’m so proud of the team.
"To win back-to-back World Cups is a dream come true. It’s a pretty strong group of guys. We try to do things no other team has done before. It’s a special feeling to be part of such a great team.”
RUGBY WORLD CUP HISTORY
New Zealand Champions 1987, 2011, 2015. Runners-up 1995
Australia Champions 1991, 1999. Runners-up 2003, 2015.
| 1991 SF | Dublin | New Zealand | 6-16 | Australia |
| 2003 SF | Sydney | New Zealand | 10-22 | Australia |
| 2011 SF | Auckland | New Zealand | 20-6 | Australia |
| 2015 F | London | New Zealand | 34-17 | Australia |
OVERALL HEAD TO HEAD
New Zealand 106
Australia 42
Draws 7
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