Boks edge Twickers thriller

It was a Fourie du Preez try five minutes from time that gave the Springboks the win and a date with New Zealand in the semifinal next week.

In South Africa on Saturday afternoon, there was little traffic on the roads and the suburbs lapsed in to silence until Bok captain Du Preez kicked the ball out to end the match and then the silent suburbs burst into cheering  after 80-odd minutes of unbearable tension.

The tension of a knock-out game is special and it does not matter that there were only two tries in the match. It was a gripping affair  from the early attack by Wales till their desperate urgency in the last five minutes.

In the first half Wales had an edge and in the second half the Springboks were on top and it brought out the greatest bravery of the Welsh that was as heroic as Rorke's Drift, keeping themselves ahead of the African horde un till this time the defensive law broke and the Springboks scored the match's winner.

On defence Wales made 189 tackles against big, aggressive, hard men. And they did not miss one that counted, for there was not a missed tackle on that dramatic occasion, just nobody there to tackle.

That try is worth talking about. The Springboks were attacking in one-pass [phases with a bash. Then Wales won a turnover but Bryan Habana darted in and caught Lloyd Williams, the substitute scrumhalf. South Africa won a turnover and were then awarded a scrum as they bashed ahead. The scrum was bout 17 metres in from the touch line on their left. Fourie du Preez [put the ball, South Africa won the heal, had a bit of a shove on and wheeled the scum slightly to the left. Burly No.8 Duane Vermeulen picked up the ball and went ahead with the wheel. Williams tackled him as Alex Cuthbert in to help his smaller team-mate but Vermeulen. flicked an underarm pass to Du Preez who had just the goal-line in front of hem. He raced, dived and scored in the corner.

It was, the Springbok coach said, a rehearsed move.

That made the score 23-19, which was the final score.

The Springboks kicked off to start the game to start the game but Wales were first to attack and it was a tackle by  Bismarck du Plessis three metres form the Springbok line that stopped big George North from scoring in the left corner. Wales could stall have scored for them had the ball and went wide left where they half a two-man overlap but a ling pass from Gethin Jenkins floated over the head of Tyler Morgan and into touch.

There was a lot of kicking in this match. Wales did it better than South Africa, whether it was kicking off, kicking at goal, kicking on defence or kicking on attack. And Wales were much better at containing South African kicks.

But South Africa scored first, when North was penalised for not releasing a tackled player when it look like a maul but Lood de Jager had a knee on the ground. Pollard goaled. 3-0 after 8 minutes. Four minutes later he doubled the score with a more difficult kick when Alun-Wyn Jones was penalised at tackle. 6-0 after 12 minutes.

Wales one a turnover – not by any means their only one in the match – and attacked and were close. Dan Biggar goaled an easy kick – easy but still given the full treatment of his St Vitus routine. 6-3 after 14 minutes.

After the kick-off Luke Charteris was penalised and from four metres in from touch, Pollard goaled. 9-3 after 16 minutes.

It may have seemed that this tense match would be decided by one player from each side, but after Pollard's third penalty goal, Du Preez kicked the kick-off a long way down field but not into touch. Biggar ran back with the ball, chipped a good way ahead, leapt and caught the ball and was off running. Challenged he sent a great pass to Gareth Davies and the scrumhalf scored in JP Pietersen's tackle. Biggar converted and Wales led 10-9 after 18 minutes.

Then the scoring went back to kicks. Charteris obstructed Willie le Roux and Pollard goaled. 12-10 to the Springboks after 20 minutes.

Bismarck du Plessis, who had been off with a sore and bleeding hand got back onto the field.

After Gareth Davies had ripped the ball from Le Roux Wales kicked downfield and chased. Under pressure Pietersen hoofed the ball out but Wales were on the attack and could have got the lead back but a Biggar penalty bounced back off an upright. Schalk Burger got the ball and bashed into a tackle. A maul formed and ended unsuccessfully – scrum to Wales. From the scrum Biggar dropped a goal and at time Wales led 13-12.

The Springboks dominated the second half and it was only rare forays into Springbok territory that yielded points from penalties, both by Biggar. The first increased their lead when Burger was penalised for blocking the ball.

After 49 minutes of the match outside centre Jesse Kriel got his first pass, not from his centre partner but from Du Preez. No wonder Springbok wings see so little of the ball.

Then Pollard dropped a goal and, after missing two penalty attempts, goaled a penalty to give the Springboks the lead.

From the kickoff, the Welsh counterrucked and the Springboks were penalised. Biggar goaled and Wales led 19-18 with 17 minutes to play.

Both coaches now sent on fresh players, especially in the front row. One of the fresh players was the massive flank Willem Alberts.

Wales did have a short period of attack when Cuthbert beat three Springboks before being felled. Wales were on the attack but a penalty brought the South Africans relief.

The Springboks bashed their way up field and with seven minutes left, inexplicably, Biggar was substituted by Rhys Priestland. Biggar left reluctantly. To ordinary folk it could seem that giving a player a cap is more important than winning the match.

At was at this stage that the scrum occurred that led to Vermeulen's sleight of hand and Du Preez's try.

In those last tense minutes, Wales went through phases but were penalised, Lambie was well short with a long drop, the Springboks attacked but were penalised and the Welsh ran  with the ball till it came back to Du Preez from a turnover, and the scrum hoofed the ball out.

For the Springboks there is a semifinal; for the Welsh the long, sad trudge down the M4.

Man of the Match: Much of South Africa's advancement depends on  Fourie du Preez. But our Man of the Match is a Welshman – Dan Biggar. All of his kicks formal or in play were excellent and it was his vision and skill that led to Wales's only try.

Moment of the Match: Fourie du Preez's try and the lead up to it – the wheeled scrum, the Vermeulen bash and the clever pass.

Villain of the Match: Nobody – not even in the heated cauldron of the match.

The scorers:

For South Africa:

Try: Du Preez

Pens: Pollard 5

DG: Pollard

For Wales:

Try: Davies

Con: Biggar

Pens: Biggar 3

DG: Biggar

The Teams:

South Africa: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Fourie du Preez (captain), 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Schalk Burger, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Lodewyk de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.

Replacements: 16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Jannie du Plessis, 19 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 20 Willem Alberts, 21 Ruan Pienaar, 22 Pat Lambie, 23 Jan Serfontein.

Wales: 15 Gareth Anscombe, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Tyler Morgan, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 George North, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Sam Warburton (captain), 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Alun-Wyn Jones, 4 Luke Charteris, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Scott Baldwin, 1 Gethin Jenkins.  

Replacements: 16 Ken Owens, 17 Paul James, 18 Tom Francis, 19 Bradley Davies, 20 Justin Tipuric, 21 Lloyd Williams, 22. Rhys Priestland, 23. James Hook.

Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)

Assistant referees: George Clancy (Ireland), JP Doyle (England)

TMO: Graham Hughes  (England)

By Paul Dobson

@rugby365com