South Africa 23-19 Wales
South Africa scored a try with just five minutes remaining to battle to a 23-19 victory over Wales and book their spot in the semi-finals of the 2015 Rugby World Cup. Injury-ravaged Wales put in a gallant performance at Twickenham, but ultimately the boot of Handre Pollard and a late Fourie du Preez score kept the Springboks' dreams of an unprecedented third World Cup triumph alive.
The first half proved to be a breathless spectacle, and it started in fitting fashion when George North was tackled just yards short of the line within the opening three minutes, before a pass flew over the head of 20-year-old Tyler Morgan with the try line gaping. Ill-discipline, a problem for Warren Gatland's side against Australia in their final pool game, soon became an issue again as they were penalised twice at the breakdown by referee Wayne Barnes, allowing Handre Pollard to knock over two penalties in quick succession.
Wales stole the ball straight back from kickoff and were able to get on the scoresheet when Dan Biggar kicked an easy penalty, although it could have been more for the designated visitors had Luke Charteris not gifted possession back to South Africa in the build-up. The Springboks quickly restored their six-point lead when Wales conceded another penalty, but it was Gatland's side who drew first blood in terms of tries.
Biggar was the creator with an up-and-under that he collected himself before getting the ball away to Gareth Davies, who went over for his fifth try of the tournament. Immediately after taking the lead, though, Wales were once again penalised and Pollard proceeded to convert his fourth penalty of the match to restore South Africa's advantage.
The scoring slowed for the remainder of the half, and it looked as though the Springboks would go in ahead when Biggar's penalty from just inside the South Africa half hit the post. However, moments later he put a drop-goal over to give his side a one-point lead at the break, and he extended that to four early in the second half. South Africa began to apply heavy pressure, but some heroic defence, coupled with two missed penalties from the previously perfect Pollard, limited the Springboks to just a drop-goal that reduced the deficit back to one.
The 21-year-old returned to form with a kick just past the hour to put his side back in front, but Wales were immediately awarded a penalty at the other end which Biggar dispatched to continue the see-saw nature of the game. The Springboks struck a killer blow with just five minutes remaining, however, as Duane Vermeulen's brilliant offload from an attacking scrum enabled captain Fourie du Preez to dive over in the corner. It was just the third try that Wales had conceded in the tournament so far, but it proved to be enough as Heyneke Meyer's side held on.
New Zealand 62-13 France
New Zealand produced a Rugby World Cup masterclass to overcome France 62-13 at the Millennium Stadium and book their place in the semi-finals. The reigning champions crossed over nine times in all to brush aside their opponents in what was a repeat of the 2011 final. It was a bright start to the quarter-final tie for the All Blacks, who were able to get the first points on the board seven minutes in through a trademark Dan Carter pen.
Despite being hounded in their own half for much of the opening stages, France were able to level things up when Scott Spedding's mammoth kick from the halfway line punished some slack New Zealand play. Just when Les Bleus looked to have found some momentum, turning over the ball and mounting an attack, Brodie Retallick charged down Frederic Michalak's kick to scoop up and score in the simplest of manners. If that was not bad enough for Michalak, he picked up an injury in the process of his failed punt and had to leave the field, but the entertaining opening quarter to the match continued when Morgan Parra split the sticks to add three more points to the board.
Some real sloppiness was creeping into the All Blacks' game, which was perhaps a result of their lack of action against tier one nations so far at this showpiece competition, and they were almost further punished when Parra was gifted a second kick from 20 metres out. The scrum-half was wasteful from the attempt, though, failing to find the target to the dismay of the many France supporters in attendance, which would ultimately prove costly. Les Tricolours were beginning to grow more and more into things, yet in a sign of just why they are favourites to retain their title Steve Hansen's men found a second score of the evening through Nehe Milner-Skudder, who weaved his way beyond Spedding and Brice Dulin to become the joint-leading try scorer at the this year's World Cup.
Things went from bad to worse for the northern hemisphere side before the half-hour mark, as Julian Savea collected Carter's back-hand offload to run in for a third of the evening, before Carter maintained his imperious kicking record. That took the world's number one ranked side up to 300 tries in this competition, but there was some hope to arrive late in the half for France thanks to Louis Picamoles' score, coming after a powerful drive over the line which the TMO was happy to award.
Yet France could not see the remaining minutes through and, in the dying stages, Savea brushed aside the challenge of three opposition defenders to regain his side's hefty cushion - albeit one that Carter could not add to with a rare miss. On the back of arguably the most impressive opening 40-minute display of any side to date, which included a record 29-point haul at the knockout stages, Hansen's charges had to focus more on defence for large parts of the second period. In what was the seventh encounter between the two sides at the World Cup, making it the most contested ever, tempers began to flair when Picamoles caught Richie McCaw in the face with his hand, but a yellow card was the lenient punishment deemed worthy by referee Nigel Owens.
The sin bin proved more than costly, however, ending any momentum the 2011 finalists had built up after Jerome Kaino profited on the opposition defence once more being stretched to cross over the chalk. There was to be no repeat of the heroics shown at this very venue eight years ago for France who, unlike on that occasion when they came out on top against the southern hemisphere giants, simply could not contain the sheer pace and power in their ranks. Savea helped himself to a fourth career Test hat-trick on the hour after a turnover led to a simple burst down the left, before Kieran Read found a gap to join the party in what was now the most one-sided of last-eight affairs.
There was further embarrassment to come for the Europeans, too, as replacement Tawera Kerr-Barlow ran in twice in the space of three minutes to truly compound their misery. Some good handling paved the way for the scrum-half to ensure that this would become a record Test defeat for the French in terms of points scored. Read more at: https://tr.im/WammN
No comments:
Post a Comment