Rassie Erasmus tells South Africa 'we're only half way there' after beating Wales to reach Rugby World Cup final

Rassie Erasmus says South Africa are only "half way there" after clinching a place in Saturday's Rugby World Cup final with a nail-biting 19-16 win over Wales in Yokohama. Handre Pollard's accuracy with the boot helped set up the win, with the Springboks fly-half contributing 14 points including a nerveless penalty in the dying minutes to edge South Africa into their third World Cup final and first since winning the last of their two titles in 2007. "We're in the final of the World Cup ... but that's only half way there. We'd love to win the World Cup," said South Africa coach Erasmus. "We play a class England team in the final now but we're there. We've got a a chance now and we might go all the way. You never know." South Africa had lost their previous four Tests against Wales, and Erasmus admitted that record was on his mind as the nail-biting match came to a head. "Losing the previous four matches against them. It could have gone their way again," he said. "I have so much respect for Wales and their coach that I thought those last few minutes, they might pull it through again. I think a little bit of luck [was] on our side." It was a true battle of the boot as the 1995 and 2007 World Cup champions ground out a victory that consigned Wales to their third tournament semi-final defeat after previous losses in 2011 and 1987. Wales coach Warren Gatland said the Springboks "deserved to win" after his side failed to topple South Africa for the third time in a World Cup match. "We never gave up and we got ourselves back into the game. It was a real arm-wrestle," said Gatland. "It wasn't our day but I'm still proud to pull this jersey on and represent all the people in this stadium," said Wales captain Alun Wyn Jones, who was close to tears. Gatland, who is stepping down after 12 years in charge, paid tribute to his players, saying: "They've given us 100 per cent. They continue to do so. We got ourselves back in that game tonight. Really close contest." The match failed to live up to the excitement of the first semi-final played in the same stadium less than 24 hours earlier as England beat New Zealand 19-7 . South Africa were content to bombard the Wales backline with aerial balls, denying the northern hemisphere any territory. The slowed rhythm suited the Springboks and their giant pack of forwards, reprising the tactics they also employed in their 26-3 quarter-final victory over Japan. Boks scrum-half Faf de Klerk showed a spark of flamboyance at the very start of the game, darting down the shortside from a scrum and chipping ahead, George North just doing enough to cover on the bounce. But any glimmer of bright, attacking rugby quickly faded amid a first quarter mired by never-ending scrum resets, poor kicking and handling from both sides. Pollard sent the first of his four successful penalties over when Justin Tipuric failed to roll away, but Wales hit back almost immediately as opposite number Dan Biggar sent the ball through the posts for three points when Willie Le Roux strayed offside. Pollard nailed his second kick at goal after a Welsh scrum wheeled before the aerial ping-pong resumed, Wales scrum-half Gareth Davies eventually spilling a ball to hand the Boks advantage, as the first "Mexican Wave" rippled around the stadium on 25 minutes to rival the action on the pitch. Wales' indiscipline cost them again as players came in at the side of a maul and Pollard made them pay with another accurate kick. Tomas Francis put his body on the line to stop a rampaging Duane Vermeulen building up a head of steam from a Wales kick off. The prop received lengthy treatment on the field before leaving in visible discomfort. North soon followed him down the tunnel as the giant wing pulled up chasing a cross-field kick but Biggar kicked a second penalty to Wales in at the break trailing by only three points. Biggar levelled the scores with his third penalty early in the second half, before Damian de Allende finally broke the try-scoring deadlock. The Bok centre pumped his legs to shrug off a weak challenge by Biggar before fending off Owen Watkin, on as a replacement for North, and Tomos Williams for a fine individual try with Pollard adding the extras. The South Africa defence repelled wave after wave of Welsh attacks on their own try line before Wales elected to set a scrum due to a South Africa player off their feet. After initially appearing to buckle under the force of the Boks pack, No 8 Ross Moriarty showed superb skill to pick the ball up on the half turn, with Williams passing to Jonathan Davies, who drew in the South Africa defence before sending Josh Adams over for a try in the left-hand corner, his sixth of the tournament. With Biggar off Leigh Halfpenny scored the conversion to put the scores level and with Wales suddenly in the ascendancy. But Rhys Patchell and Pollard both missed with ambitious drop-goal attempts before the latter kicked his crucial fourth penalty to eliminate Wales and set up a final against England on Saturday.

Rassie Erasmus tells South Africa 'we're only half way there' after beating Wales to reach Rugby World Cup final

Handre Pollard's accuracy with the boot helped set up the win, with the Springboks fly-half contributing 14 points in narrow 19-16 win