South Africa captain Siya Kolisi hailed his side's fighting spirit and hoped it would prove inspirational for his country at large after they retained the World Cup with a 12-11 win over New Zealand in Stade de France.
The Springboks became the first to win four World Cups after holding off a 14-man All-Black side in a gruelling battle.
Four first-half penalties from Handre Pollard gave the defending champions a 12-6 lead at half-time, by which time the All Blacks were a man down after captain Sam Cane had his yellow card upgraded to a red by the bunker.
With Kolisi himself and latterly Cheslin Kolbe spending time in the sin bin in the second half, South Africa had to withstand a final quarter rally, with Beauden Barrett touching down in the corner for the game's only try.
However, New Zealand were unable to nudge in front at any stage, Richie Mo'unga missing the difficult conversion and then Jordie Barrett pulling his 73rd minute penalty wide after Kolbe's deliberate knock-on.
"The All Blacks took us to a dark place, it just shows what team they are, they fought, they put us under so much pressure," said the Springbok captain.
"Credit to my boys for the fight, I'm just grateful."
"We lost our hooker (Bongi Mbonambi) in the early part of the game and obviously we had to adjust to that. The All Blacks put us under so much pressure in lineouts, but some how we found a way."
Kolisi said the impact of victory in South Africa, struggling amid economic strain, high levels of unemployment and criminality would be a much-needed tonic.
"People who are not from South Africa don’t understand what this means for our country. This is not just about the game, our country goes through such a lot. We are the very hope that they have," he said.
"We're just grateful that we can be here."
Head coach Jacques Nienaber described his side as "warriors" and said that their experience had pulled them through in the finish.
"I think the main thing was just the strength of the squad," the coach said.
"They’re experienced, they've been in a World Cup final before, some of them were playing a third World Cup. So I think the experience just pulled it through, they’re an amazing bunch of guys, all warriors.
South African head coach Jacques Nienaber - now bound for Leinster - credits South Africa's experience for pulling them through #NZLvRSA #RWC2023
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"We’ve come a long way with these players, we’ve planned for this since 2018," added Nienaber, who is departing the South African set-up to take up a coaching post in Leinster.
Remarkably, the win was South Africa's third successive one-point victory in the knockout phase, underlining their resilience and know-how in high pressure moments.
Flanker Pieter-Steph du Toit - crowned World Player of the Year after the 2019 triumph - was named Man of the Match in the final after making a whopping 27 tackles.
"I guess as team we like the drama," he quipped. "We’ve had a lot of drama over the last years, so I supposed we are used it. It shows the resilience of the team … and the whole South Africa as well.
"The last three games were really rough, each one we played like a final. Each one we won by one point, so it was quite tough for us," he said with a touch of understatement.
