The Springboks reserved their place in the 2023 Rugby World Cup final against the All Blacks with a brutal last 15 minutes of play to take the lead for the first time with just three minutes to play and win 16-15 against England.
Owen Farrell converted two early penalties to open England's account in a wet Paris. England dominated the early exchanges physically and in the air, to deservedly lead 06-00 after 10 minutes of play in the first half.
The Springboks opened their account on the scoreboard with a Manie Libbok converted penalty to which Owen Farrell replied with a penalty kick for England. England led 09-03 with 17 minutes still to play with the Springboks' being "bullied" by England at that stage.
Despite a mistake made by England in their own 22m the Springboks clearly struggled to break the defence of England. Handre Pollard converted an easy penalty and with 5 min still to play in the first half, England still led 09-06.
With time up on the clock in the first half, England's Owen Farrell converted his fourth penalty to go into the halftime break leading 12-06.
After twelve minutes of play, Owen Farrell converted a drop goal to extend their lead to 15-06.
RG Snyman scored the first try of the match to reduce England's lead to just two points with 10 minutes still left to play. The Springboks' bench has upped the pace of their attack with a great result looming.
The Springboks continued to hammer, and with 3 minutes remaining Handre Pollard converted a 50m penalty to put the Springboks 16-15 in the lead and secure their place in the 2023 Rugby World Cup final.
Scorers:
Springboks: Try: RG Snyman. Conversion: Handre Pollard. Penalty: Manie Libbok, Handre Pollard.
England: Penalty: Owen Farrell (4). Drop Goal: Wen Farrell.
Teams:
Springboks: 1 Steven Kitshoff, 2 Mbongeni Mbonambi, 3 Frans Malherbe, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 5 Franco Mostert, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 9 Cobus Reinach, 10 Manie Libbok, 11 Cheslin Kolbe, 12 Damian de Allende, 13 Jesse Kriel, 14 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 15 Damian Willemse. Replacements: 16 Deon Fourie, 17 Ox Nche, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Faf de Klerk, 22 Handre Pollard, 23 Willie Le Roux.
England: 1 Joe Marler, 2 Jamie George, 3 Dan Cole, 4 Maro Itoje, 5 George Martin, 6 Courtney Lawes, 7 Tom Curry, 8 Ben Earl, 9 Alex Mitchell, 10 Owen Farrell (c), 11 Elliot Daly, 12 Manu Tuilagi, 13 Joe Marchant, 14 Jonny May, 15 Freddie Steward. Replacements: 16 Theo Dan, 17 Ellis Genge, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 Ollie Chessum, 20 Billy Vunipola, 21 Danny Care, 22 George Ford, 23 Ollie Lawrence.
