South Africa have reached the Rugby World Cup semi-finals in Japan with a 26-3 victory over the hosts this afternoon.
A brace of tries from Makazole Mapimpi as well as a five-pointer from Faf de Klerk saw the Springboks over the line against a determined Japanese side that began to tire as the game went on.
The Springboks made the perfect start as winger Mapimpi took the ball from de Klerk off a scrum and went in for a try in the corner despite being under pressure from Yu Tamura. They couldn’t add the extras but it was 5-0 inside the fourth minute.
However, as the clock edged toward the tenth minute the Boks were reduced to 14-men as Tendai Mtawarira was sent to the sin-bin for a tip tackle, putting a sour note on his 100th appearance.
Just before Mtawarira returned to the pitch Tamura cut the deficit as he knocked over a penalty to make it 5-3 with a quarter of the game gone.
Japan continued to show the incredible handling work that has impressed many throughout the tournament to date and continued to put the Springboks under pressure as they seemed to grow in confidence as the game went on.
Their dominance was showing in the statistics as they had an amazing 81% possession by come the half hour mark. However, despite having the majority of the ball for the remainder of the half they couldn’t add to the scoreboard as they went in at 5-3 to the Springboks come the half-time whistle.
South Africa began the second-half well and registered their first points of the half four minutes in through the boot of Handre Pollard, who sent over a brilliant long-range penalty to make it 8-3.
Pollard pushed the Boks further in front four minutes later as he knocked over another penalty.
Over the next 15 minutes South Africa camped in the opposition half and won a couple of penalties with Pollard sending one wide but smacking the second through the posts to give his side a 14-3 lead.
With just under 15 minutes remaining the Springboks produced a powerful maul, marching almost 30 metres, into the Japanese 22 before replacement hooker Malcolm Marx broke away before passing to de Klerk who dived over for the try. Pollard kicked the simple conversion push them 21-3 in front.
Four minutes on and they were in for try number three as Pollard broke through the Japanese defence before passing to Willie le Roux, who in turn sent it to Mapimpi, who raced into the left corner to dive over for the five-points. Pollard couldn’t add the extra two but it was 26-3 as Japan began to tire.
The two teams traded blows over the last ten minutes as the both went in search of tries but neither could find a way through as it ended 26-3 in the Boks favour.
The Springboks will now prepare for a meeting with Wales next Sunday in the final four of the competition as they look to make it to another World Cup final. While for Japan their tournament comes to an end, but they have earned many admirers throughout with their incredible determination and playing style.
South Africa Player Ratings
Starting XV:
Willie le Roux (6), Cheslin Kolbe (7), Lukanyo Am (7), Damian de Allende (6), Makazole Mapimpi (8), Handre Pollard (8), Faf de Klerk (9), Duane Vermeulen (7), Pieter-Steph du Toit (7), Siya Kolisi (6), Lood de Jager (7), Eben Etzebeth (7), Frans Malherbe (6), Bongi Mbonambi (6), Tendai Mtawarira (5)
Replacements (7)
