In brief: South Africa new World Cup champs

South Africa won its second Rugby World Cup by beating defending champion England 15-6 Saturday in Saint-Denis, France, in a final where all the points came on penalty kicks.

Percy Montgomery was 4 for 4 on kicks for South Africa, Francois Steyn added another and Jonny Wilkinson had two for Britain.

“I’m sitting here and trying not to cry,” Springboks captain John Smit said. “It’s a feeling you can’t put into words. It’s a reward for four years of dedication and hard work. England gave us a good run. But we responded well to their technical kicking.”

Wilkinson kicked England to victory in the 2003 final in Sydney, but didn’t receive enough chances at Stade de France.

The Springboks also kicked for all their points in their previous championship, on home soil in 1995.

Baseball

La Russa has hope

St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa expects to return for a 13th season with St. Louis, and may commit to the team before it selects a new general manager.

La Russa told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he’d be back barring complications in discussions with team chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. His three-year deal expired at the end of the season.

“The fact that we’re talking pretty much daily and everything is progressing tells you where it’s heading and where we’d like it to end up,” La Russa said. “Obviously, that’s assuming nothing falls through the cracks.”

Miscellany

Former Packer dies

Max McGee, the former Green Bay Packers wide receiver who scored the first touchdown in Super Bowl history in an unexpected starring role, died after falling from the roof of his Deephaven, Minn., home, police confirmed. He was 75.

“Heather O’Reilly saved the U.S. women’s soccer team from a season-ending loss to Mexico, scoring the tying goal in the second half of a 1-1 draw in Albuquerque, N.M.

“Germany’s Felix Sturm retained his WBA middleweight title, fighting to a draw with American Randy Griffin in Halle, Germany.

Both fighters traded shots nonstop for 12 rounds, standing toe-to-toe for many of them. One judge ruled the fight 114-114, while the other two had it 117-111 for Griffin and 115-114 for Sturm.

“Justine Henin rallied to defeat Nicole Vaidisova 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 and advanced to the final of the Zurich Open in Zurich, Switzerland.

The top-ranked Henin will play for the title against Tatiana Golovin, who defeated Francesca Schiavone 6-0, 6-4 in the other semifinal.

“Defending champion Roger Federer will play David Nalbandian in the final of the Madrid Masters in Madrid, Spain.

Federer defeated Nicolas Kiefer 6-4, 6-4 in one semifinal, and Nalbandian defeated third-ranked Novak Djokovic 6-4, 7-6 (4).

“At Cincinnati, Anderson Silva retained his Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight championship, stopping Rich Franklin.