South Africa has beaten France 29-28 in an intense quarterfinal match in Paris to knock the hosts out of the Rugby World Cup.
The Springboks stayed on track for a fourth title as they set up a semifinal against England, who were victorious against Fiji.
In a thrilling atmosphere at the Stade de France, Les Bleus were roared on by home supporters.
They led 22-19 at half-time, but the South African team scored the only try of the second half through forward Eben Etzebeth to hit the front with 13 minutes left.
Etzebeth had earlier been yellow-carded, putting his team under heavy pressure, but the French only managed a solitary penalty goal while he was off the field.
An exchange of penalties in the final minutes left France needing another score to stay alive.
The home side roared forward in the final seconds, but as they tried to keep the move going the ball was spilled forward, leaving the defending champions South Africa to kick the ball to touch to end the game.
The result marked a brutal blow for France’s new generation, who came into the tournament with the self-belief to claim a first World Cup title.
Les Bleus, however, suffered only their second home defeat in 26 home tests under Galthie, and this one will hurt forever.
South Africa prevailed thanks to tries by Kurt-Lee Arendse, Damian de Allende, Cheslin Kolbe and Etzebeth and points from the boots of Mannie Libbock and Handre Pollard.
France captain Antoine Dupont returned from cheekbone surgery, but the mercurial scrumhalf ran out of steam and ideas as Les Bleus could only score through tries by Cyril Baille (two) and Peato Mauvaka. Thomas Ramos added 13 points with the boot, although a charged-down conversion could have made the difference.
England hold on to end Fiji RWC campaign
Earlier, captain Owen Farrell kicked 20 points to lead England to a gripping 30-24 victory over Fiji as the Islanders surged back from 14 points down before Farrell slotted a drop goal and penalty to win the game.
Centres Manu Tuilagi and Joe Marchant scored tries as England led 24-10 early in the second half and looked in control.
However, in classic style, Fiji scored two tries in four minutes to change the mood, only for England, thanks to surging runs by number eight Ben Earl, to regain the lead, which they held during a gripping finale.
England reached their sixth World Cup semi-final and will go in search of a fifth final appearance when they meet France.
“It was what we expected,” Farrell said. “They are a tough, tough team that can turn it on in the blink of an eye. I thought we started the game really well and to find a way to win and get through to the semi-finals is a big step forward.”
For most of the match England were unrecognisable from the team who looked so lacklustre against Samoa last week, in attack and defence.
They looked to move the ball wide quicker and more often than in any previous game, except Chile, and stifled Fiji’s attack at source.
Building strongly from the start Tuilagi showed great dexterity to spin and reach back to touch down for the first try and another break set up Marchant, who showed sharp footwork and a telescopic arm for the second.
Fiji winger Vinaya Habosi was yellow-carded for a head-on-head collision with Marcus Smith but down to 14 they hit back as Vilimoni Botitu flipped a pass backwards through his legs for Viliame Mata to score under the posts.
It was a rare attack, though, for a team seeking a first semi-final and more England pressure earned penalty opportunities that Farrell gobbled up to build a 21-10 lead half-time lead which they stretched to 14 points after 55 minutes.
Fiji kept probing, however, and in typical style, scored tries through Peni Ravai and Vilimoni Botitu after superb Semi Radradra offloads, and with Simione Kuruvoli converting both it was 24-24 with 10 minutes left.
A surging Earl run set up Farrell for a drop goal to regain the lead and the number eight did it again, gobbling up 40 metres to earn a penalty which Farrell knocked over with three minutes to go.
There was still time for drama, however, as England held off a relentless series of attacks and thought they had won it, only for Farrell to be penalised for a deliberate knock-on before winning the decisive penalty with 86 minutes on the clock.
When England were stunned at Twickenham by Fiji in August it was their fifth defeat in six matches and they set off for France with criticism raining down from every angle.
Now, on the back of five wins in a row the 2019 World Cup runners-up are in the last four again.
England will undoubtedly have to find another level of attack but, on the back of Sunday’s improvement and their superlative display to beat the All Blacks in the semis four years ago, there will be much talk of “anything can happen on the day” during next week’s build-up.
Reuters/ABC
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