RUGBY WORLD CUP
Agony for Wales as Springboks book semi-final showdown with All Blacks
WALES were unable to repeat their Twickenham heroics over England as Fourie du Preez’s ‘diamond’ late try shattered their World Cup dream.
After their heroics in escaping from the so-called ‘pool of death’ intact, and ending England’s interest in the process, Warren Gatland’s men looked to be on the verge of a second successive World Cup semifinal until veteran scrum-half Du Preez struck with six minutes left.
The Springboks, trailing 19-18 at the time courtesy of a quite magnificent Welsh rearguard, which had seen Dan Biggar produce another fly-half masterclass, wheeled a scrum cleverly to the left.
With blindside winger Bryan Habana dragging in Wales wing Alex Cuthbert and replacement scrum-half Lloyd Williams, South Africa’s No 8 colossus Duane Vermeulen picked up the ball and went left, committing two Wales defenders before flicking a truly brilliant reverse pass for Du Preez to fly over almost unopposed.
It was a sublime piece of training field brilliance, transferred to the biggest stage just when it mattered. Wales were broken. There was no coming back.
‘We’re absolutely gutted,’ said Wales coach Gatland. ‘ I’m proud of the guys. They put their bodies on the line and emptied the tank. That’s all we can ask of them.
‘We weren’t good enough to hold on at the end.
‘Maybe Lloyd Williams should have gone in hard on the ball with the scrum skewed and Alex maybe shouldn’t have gone across. But you have to acknowledge the skill involved in South Africa scoring that try.’
With Biggar being assessed for a head injury sustained just before the try — and full marks to Wales medic Prav Mathema for insisting on him going off despite forceful protests from the player — Gatland’s men could find no way back into a wonderfully entertaining match in which they had played a full part.
It was cruel on Biggar, who has enjoyed a superb tournament, as he will have heard the roar of the South Africans in the crowd as he was being assessed in the Twickenham medical room.
Gatland refused to attribute any blame to his medical team, who stuck bravely to the newly imposed protocols surrounding concussion management.
‘It was a medical call,’ Gatland said. ‘They took him off the field for a Head Injury Assessment. He looked like he had a bit of a knock. He thought he was OK. But we support our medical staff 100 per cent and they made the call.
‘Dan’s made a fantastic contribution. It’s been good to see him contributing. He’s been one of the outstanding fly-halves in the tourna- ment. I couldn’t have asked any more from the players in terms of effort. I think they did Wales proud, especially getting out of that tough pool. The players have given 100 per cent.’
South Africa will play holders New Zealand, who came through last night’s semi-final against France.
Wales, however, will return home full of pride at a World Cup contribution which saw them written off in the build-up after injuries to key players, including British Lions Leigh Halfpenny and Jonathan Davies, before soldiering on with their never-say-die spirit. Yesterday, their young outside centre Tyler Morgan and replacement full back Gareth Anscombe did themselves proud with tidy contributions in the cauldron of the World Cup knock-out stages.
Morgan’s early steal off Springbok dangerman Damian de Allende should have earned him a try after George North’s powerful burst down the left. The ball was worked right only for prop Gethin Jenkins — who otherwise enjoyed a fine game — to throw the pass over Morgan’s head and into touch. On such small margins are these games won and lost.
South Africa fly-half Handre Pollard and Biggar exchanged early penalties but South Africa were beginning to take charge when the Wales No 10 hoisted a high ball on the halfway line before outjumping South Africa full-back Willie le Roux and feeding the ball to scrum-half Gareth Davies to score. It was a brilliant try.
Biggar converted, before Pollard kicked his fourth penalty of the half, only for Biggar to drop a nonchalant goal before the break to claim a 13-12 Welsh lead.
‘I hope we did Wales proud,’ said their captain Sam Warburton. ‘I couldn’t have asked any more of the guys. From an effort point of view we have no regrets. But to give away 12 points in the first half was a little bit disappointing. They didn’t really stress our try-line.
‘I don’t think we’d ever blame the injuries for not getting through. We got to a quarter-final and were able to field a full strength pack. We consider ourselves luck not to lose so many forwards.’
The second half saw the score swing either way as Pollard and Biggar continued to swap penalties before Du Preez’s decisive late score.
The try was a personal triumph for South Africa coach Heyneke Meyer, who had come under intense pressure at home following his side’s shock opening pool defeat to Japan. Meyer was personally responsible for talking the 33-year-old out of retirement after the last World Cup and installing him as captain.
‘The boys have trained that move all week and it came off,’ Meyer said. ‘I feel so blessed to be here. I’d like to kiss Fourie. I’ve always said coaching is overrated. Rugby is about character. It showed that when you pressure charcoal, you get diamonds.
‘Fourie is the most astute rugby player I’ve ever coached. We were in desperation mode when I called him. He’s a tactical genius.’