Reigning champions South Africa struck late for a 16-15 win over England in the second semifinal at the Stade de France to book a Rugby World Cup final against the All Blacks next Sunday.
The Springboks trailed for the majority of the match as the boot of Owen Farrell allowed England to build a commanding lead with a penalty just two minutes into the match.
South Africa gave away a second penalty to England in the 10th minute and Farrell chipped it over from right in front to put England up by 6 points.
It took 11 minutes for South Africa to regroup and get on the scoreboard by a penalty from Manie Libbok but Farrell booted his third penalty in the match to give England a 9-6 lead in the 24th minute.
Coming off the bench in place of Libbok, Handre Pollard took over the kicking duties and slotted South Africa’s second penalty with the aim to merge the gap at 9-6 but Farrell kicked his fourth penalty to give England a 12-6 lead at the break.
Farrell again put England on the scoreboard first with a penalty in the 52nd minute but this time, the Boks made a strong comeback in the match.
RG Snyman secured a lineout for South Africa and set the driving maul. England defended well before Dion Fourie broke off and charged to the line but he fell short before Snyman picked up the ball and dived over the line to score.
Pollard converted to give South Africa 13 points just two points away from England.
After England broke down three scrum attempts, match official pointed for a penalty in favor of South Africa which Pollard made no mistake and drilled the kick straight into the sticks to secure the victory.
England will meet Argentina in the playoff at 7am on Saturday while the final between South Africa and All Blacks will kick off at 7am on Sunday.
