South Africa ripped hosts France out of their dreams at the Rugby World Cup. The defending champion defeated the French team led by captain Antoine Dupont, who returned from a serious facial injury, in the quarterfinals on Sunday with 29:28 (19:19). On October 21st there will be a repeat of the 2019 final between South Africa and England for a place in the final.
The French playmaker Dupont, who broke his upper jaw and cheekbone after a violent collision in the preliminary round game against Namibia three weeks ago, conducted the game with a special mask.
The game started furiously. Cyril Baille gave France an early lead with a try (4th), Thomas Ramos increased the lead to 7-0. Kurt-Lee Arendse and Manie Libbok equalized in the eighth minute. Damian de Allende (18th) turned the game around with his attempt and made it 12:7 for the defending champions.
This time France equalized through Peato Mauvaka’s attempt (22′). But again this didn’t last long. Cheslin Kolbe (26th) put South Africa back in the lead with 19:12. Before the break, Cyril Baille (31st) equalized the game to 19:19 with his second attempt.
Ramos converts two penalties
However, the players on the field were unable to maintain the pace from the first half. Two converted penalty kicks by Thomas Ramos (41st, 54th) as well as an attempt by Eben Etzebeh (67th) and a penalty kick by Handre Pollard (69th) ensured the points in the second half.
The score was 29:25 for South Africa going into the final minutes. But Ramos only converted another penalty to make it 28:29, which could no longer prevent the hosts from going out.
Former rugby world champions England have reached the semi-finals of the World Cup in France. The 2003 champion beat outsiders Fiji 30:24 (21:10) in Marseille on Saturday. Favorite England started strongly and quickly gained a lead, but Fiji managed to equalize at 24:24 in the second half. Fiji, in only their second World Cup quarter-final since 2007, stayed true to their risky style of play but narrowly missed out on victory.
The winning teams England and South Africa meet on Sunday evening in Saint-Denis. The final will also take place there on October 28th.
Christian Eichler Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 5 Claudia Bröll, Cape Town Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 4 Published/Updated: Recommendations: 4
The All Blacks from New Zealand and Argentina face each other in the second semi-final. On Saturday evening, three-time world champion New Zealand defeated world number one Ireland 28:24 (18:17) in a dramatic quarter-final at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis.
Argentina surprisingly won against Wales 29:17 (6:10) in Marseille and made it into the semi-finals for the third time.
