England suffer Rugby World Cup heartbreak as South Africa win brutal semi-final
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English hearts were crestfallen on Saturday as South Africa pulled off a mighty comeback to edge their Rugby World Cup final clash 16-15 in Paris.
Twenty-four hours after New Zealand booked their berth in next week's Paris decider with an emphatic 38-point win over Argentina, South Africa topped a far more turgid affair against the Red Rose. And despite Owen Farrell's best efforts to kick the Red Rose back into a second straight World Cup decider, it was Springbok tenacity that won the war in the end.
The collisions could be heard around France's capital as the packs took centre stage at the Stade de France. And the end result was the same as it was in Tokyo four years ago, with Steve Borthwick overseeing the same unfortunate fate as predecessor Eddie Jones.
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Having only squeaked by Fiji in the quarter-finals of the competition, Borthwick's side showed growth once more in what was inarguably England's best performance of the tournament thus far. And despite there being only one try to speak of in Saint-Denis, Red Rose fans could afford to feel pride at the level of maturity displayed by a squad that's been learning on the job.
A dominant first half saw the redeemed Owen Farrell slot four penalties to South Africa's two to fire his side into the break as 12-6 leaders. The Boks even saw fit to change swap Leicester fly-half Handre Pollard in for Manie Libbok after just 30 minutes, such was the respect they afforded England in what was clearly developing into the tensest of duels.
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Controversial though it was, the initiative turned out to be inspired as Pollard piloted his side to an all-southern hemisphere final against New Zealand. His late conversion from an RG Snyman try and the penalty from halfway that followed made all the difference in a semi-final showdown that won't be forgotten in a hurry.
After leading by six at half-time, England continued to get the better of the breakdown and apply all the right pressure in the aerial game. Farrell increased that lead to nine with a terrific long-range drop goal on 53 minutes, but a scoreless third act signalled the beginning of the end for the northern hemisphere's last remaining battalion.
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Ill discipline started to show as Rassie Erasmus' men finally managed to invade the English 22 with a surging penalty, the result of which was Snyman sailing over under a mass of bodies in the 70th minute. Pollard applied the extras to pull South Africa within two, but his biggest impact was to come off the back of a scrum penalty at halfway eight minutes later.
The Tigers 10 was almost never in doubt as the ball cruised over to crush English spirits, with a resigned Red Rose rarely looking like adding to its tally once momentum had shifted. In the end, a classic combination of physicality, resilience, tactics and a cool head under pressure put the Springboks back within 80 minutes of another Webb Ellis trophy.
"It's unbelievable, it's a lot of relief in this moment," said match-winner Pollard immediately after a semi-final for South Africans to savour. "Frustrated we weren't at our best tonight, especially in that first-half.
"We knew we had so much more to give but fair play to England, I think they put us under pressure in exactly the right areas. But jeez the fight we showed, never giving up, it is what we stand for as a team and as a nation."
England will inevitably be left wondering what might have been, with this being a likely last World Cup for a slate of their stars, 32-year-old Farrell included. But what started out as a potential shock for the ages came to a head in predictable circumstances, with South Africa worth their salt ahead of a mythical finale against a well-known New Zealand.
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