South Africa vs New Zealand match report: All Blacks book their place in Rugby World Cup final with narrow victory

South Africa 18 New Zealand 20

Beauden Barrett scores a try for New Zealand (Getty Images)

An epic semi-final came down to the difference between South Africa being unable to garner points from anywhere other than the lopsided penalty count their brave battle forced out of New Zealand, and the All Blacks’ entirely predictable possession of the crucial cutting edge, to the tune of two tries to none by Jerome Kaino and Beauden Barrett. The fact the score was so grippingly close from start to finish demonstrated the stresses and strains of a World Cup knockout match counted for more than New Zealand’s unchallenged position as the world’s number one ranked team.

Mostly eschewing the flowery flourishes, New Zealand made sure the last 12 minutes passed with no further scoring, not least with a brilliant forwards’ drive to smash South Africa in a line-out maul on the All Blacks’ 22-metre line and help force a midfield fumble. It gave the raging hot tournament favourites passage to Saturday’s final, and a shot at becoming the first three-time champions.

South Africa forced nine penalties out of their bitterest rivals in the first half and they turned round with a lead of five points, at which stage New Zealand were down to 14 men with the flanker Kaino in the sin-bin. It took a sweet drop goal by Dan Carter, proving himself a master at fly-half against South Africa’s younger pretenders, to settle the qualms, and New Zealand strode on from there. “These matches are great to be a part of and great to come out the right side of,” said Richie McCaw, who now has a chance to captain the first team to retain the World Cup, against the winners of Sunday’s semi-final between Australia or Argentina. “Our indiscipline in the first half kept the Springboks in the game. We did it the hard way today.”

South Africa were ahead with the first of fly-half Handre Pollard’s four first-half penalty goals when New Zealand had their opening try after five minutes. Willie le Roux had done well to take a mark but his clearance was run back by Nehe Milner-Skudder, and at length McCaw gave a lobbed pass over an opponent’s head for Kaino to shrug off the lock Lood de Jager and score at the right-hand corner. South African supporters complained of McCaw’s pass being forward; it was within referee Jerome Garces’s rights to check but he did not do so. Carter converted brllliantly at the second attempt after Bryan Habana had gone early in attempting to charge the All Blacks fly-half’s kick down.

The All Blacks mixed familiarly going through the phases, with fishing for the breakthrough with kicks along the ground by Carter, by Aaron Smith (the scrum-half who never found his top form), by Milner-Skudder, and even by the superbly scuttling Ma’a Nonu when they ran out of ideas after 12 phases. It took 25 minutes before we saw the first scrum. The penalty count was 9-3 in favour of South Africa before the interval, with the All Blacks being hammered by Francois Louw and friends at the breakdown; hence Pollard’s four kicks including one just before half-time beautifully timed to put South Africa 12-7 up. It was a result of Kaino going into the sin-bin for deliberate toeing the ball, as he got up after tackling Fourie du Preez to halt a typically clever short-side break by the try-scoring hero of South Africa’s quarter-final win over Wales here last week.

Jerome Kaino scores for New Zealand (Getty Images)

It was the All Blacks’ first appearance at Twickenham in this English World Cup, from which the hosts were knocked out three weeks ago, and Scotland, Wales and Ireland followed them in losing quarter-finals last weekend. You didn’t need to be a rampant xenophobe to feel a pang of pain in the heart on the walk from the station to the stadium, although one random fellow with a soapbox and a microphone was preaching “glorious resurrection”, so perhaps there was hope for us all.

Habana had initially been at his prickly busiest, looking for work and chasing a World Cup record 16th try. But the wing’s world turned upside down with an unlucky penalty conceded chasing Milner-Skudder when he pushed the All Black after tripping over his foot. Followed by a much more culpable yellow-card offence as Habana slapped the ball from Aaron Smith’s hands in the run-up to New Zealand’s second try in the 52nd minute. Carter had dropped a goal left-footed to trim South Africa’s lead before the No.10’s tackle helped force a turnover from Schalk Burger in the Boks’ 22 – this after Julian Savea had only just missed latching on to a grubber by the recently introduced Barrett, slotting in at full-back with Ben Smith shifting to the wing. With a charge by Brodie Retallick, and Habana’s hand failing to stem the momentum, Nonu coolly managed a two-on-two attack on the left as if it was a training-ground drill, passing to Barrett for the new arrival to finish, and Carter to convert, again from wide out.

South Africa must have sensed the tournament that had begun so dramatically with a loss to Japan five weeks ago was slipping away, but they had a shot of succour with a scrum penalty kicked by Pollard on 56 minutes, only to immediately cough up three points at the other end, with Eben Etzebeth off his feet, as Carter made it 20-15 to New Zealand. A penalty by Pollard’s replacement Pat Lambie from 40 metres made it a two-point match, for Kieran Read swimming up the side of a maul. But Barrett’s presence as a second fly-half was crucial in the nerve-jangling final moments.

It all took the All Blacks’ stats since their World Cup win in 2011 to 53 Tests played with just three losses - one of them here to England. Remember them?

Teams

South Africa: W le Roux; JP Pietersen, J Kriel, D de Allende (J Serfontein, 79), B Habana; H Pollard (P Lambie, 65), F du Preez; T Mtawarira (T Nyakane, 53), B du Plessis (A Strauss, 53), F Malherbe (J du Plessis, 60), E Etzebeth, L de Jager (V Matfield, 60), S Burger (W Alberts, 64), F Louw (Alberts, 29-35), D Vermeulen.

New Zealand: B Smith; N Milner-Skudder (B Barrett, 49), C Smith, M Nonu (SB Williams, 53), J Savea; D Carter, A Smith; J Moody (B Franks, 69), D Coles (K Mealamu, 67), O Franks (C Faumuina, 53), B Retallick, S Whitelock, J Kaino (S Cane, 67), R McCaw (capt), K Read.

Referee: J Garces (France).