Gatland’s time not up yet as Wales rallies in final minutes

Wales coach Warren Gatland admitted he was preparing his farewell speech as Wales trailed France with six minutes left in their World Cup quarter-final, but instead he can now work on his semifinal pep-talk after his team snatched a thrilling victory.

Gatland is stepping down following the World Cup after 12 years in charge and would have been hugely frustrated if his last game had been a defeat and a somewhat limp performance against a French team reduced to 14 men for the last 30 minutes.

“I have to say I was starting to think about what I’d be saying to TV, to you guys,” he said after Ross Moriarty’s converted 74th-dramatic try secured a 20-19 victory.

“You start going through lots of different emotions. I thought France played exceptionally well. They’ve made a lot of progress in five months and I think the best team lost.”

The New Zealander said he was relieved to get to halftime down 19-10 after France had been full of attacking verve in the first period.

“I’m really proud of these players, they never give up, they just keep fighting and fighting. We didn’t play our best tonight but it’s testament to this group of men that we came through.”

Meanwhile, South Africa coach Rassie Erasmus had promised Japan no less than what his team delivered on Sunday — a gruelling first-half physical battle, followed by a second half of point scoring.

The Springboks duly beat Japan 26-3 in their quarter-final after only leading 5-3 at the break. By then, however, they had laid the foundation for their win, smashing the tournament hosts in contact to the point where most of the home side were walking wounded by halftime. Erasmus’s side settled in the second and kept Japan pinned in their own half, then took what opportunities their pressure created.