TIGERS UNITED

South Africa and Wales played a thrilling Rugby World Cup semifinal with both team displayed relentless fighting spirit. In the end, it would come down to who could keep their nerve, and after 80 pain-staking minutes, it was Handre Pollard and the Springboks who emerged triumphant. South Africa have the boot of Pollard to thank for their third World Cup final appearance, with the fly-half kicking 14 of their points on top of Damian de Allende ’s well-taken try. Wales were keeping up with the African side thanks to Josh Adams ’s sixth try of the campaign, putting himself out in front in the try-scoring charts, while Dan Biggar and Leigh Halfpenny added 11 points combined from the tee, but Pollard’s final penalty four minutes from time proved the final nail in Wales’s World Cup coffin. South Africa will return here next Saturday to face England in a repeat of the 2007 World Cup final, while for Wales the journey is agonisingly not over yet. They will face a New Zealan

England reached their first Rugby World Cup final in 12 years after a stunning victory over three-time world champions New Zealand . The All Blacks had not lost a World Cup game in 12 years and had won 15 of the past 16 games between the two nations. But England were different on Saturday with Eddie Jones tactical masterpiece, they overpowered the reigning champion to take a slot in the final. England had a good start as they stormed into a 10-0 lead, Manu Tuilagi 's second-minute try and a long-range penalty from George Ford . They could have gone further if tries by Sam Underhill and Ben Youngs had not been ruled out by the TMO decisions. Ford scored another penalty nine minutes after the break to increase the pressure on the All Blacks. However Ardie Savea gave New Zealand a fighting chance with a try in the 56th minute. But most of the time, England were very solid and unbreakable. They got another six points from two successful penalties by Ford in the 62nd

South Africa ended Japan ’s glorious run at the Rugby World Cup with a 26-3 win in Sunday night’s quarterfinals. In front of about 49 thousand fans in the Tokyo Stadium, the Springboks destroyed the Japanese World Cup dream with a splendid second half performance. Playing in their first ever Rugby World Cup knockout stage, the Brave Blossoms  fell behind to an early Makazole Mapimpi 's try in the third minute. However, Yu Tamura penalty gave the Brave Blossoms a fighting chance before going into the break trailing by just two points. Handling errors cost South Africa dear in a frustrating first half but they gradually tightened the screws after the break as Handre Pollard kicked three penalties before Faf de Klerk and Mapimpi delivered late tries. Japan had famously beat South Africa 34-32 in an upset at the 2015 World Cup, but it was a totally different situation last Sunday. Chasing for their third World Cup title, the Springboks showed quality to deny the h

New Zealand proved that they are in an excellent form to win their fourth Rugby World Cup title as they outclassed Ireland 46-14 in their last eight-clash on Saturday. The All Blacks displayed brilliant performance with seven tries and had effectively secured victory by halftime. The win set them up for a semifinal clash against England . Richie Mo'unga opened the scoring with a 5th minute penalty. After a tough first 10 minutes, the three-times champions started to dominate the match. Aaron Smith scored the first two tries in the 13th & 19th minutes, before Beauden Barrett added another in the 31st minute. New Zealand went into the break with a solid 22-0 lead. The All Blacks continued the assaults on Ireland when the match resumed. Codie Taylor and Matt Todd crossed the try line in the 47th and 60th minutes. In the 68th minute, the Irish got a converted try through Robbie Henshaw . Seven minutes later, referee Nigel Owen awarded them a penalty try. But t

Japan climbed up to number 7 in the World Rugby Rankings on Monday after another convincing win at the Rugby World Cup 2019. The historic run continues after taking down Scotland 28-21 at Yokohama Stadium, as the host nation reels from a deadly typhoon. The result lifted the Brave Blossoms above France , Scotland , Argentina and Italy in the latest World Rugby Rankings. Finn Russel gave Scotland a good start with 6th minute try. But Japan replied with three converted tries by Kotaro Matsushima , Keita Inagaki and Kenki Fukuoka . The first half ended with the Brave Blossoms leading the Scottish 21-7. Two minutes after the match resumed, Inagaki crossed the line again to extend the advantage to 28-7. Scotland did not go down with a fight. They scored two tries through WP Nel and Zander Fagerson but the Japanese held on to claim the victory. Yu Tamura scored all four conversions to help his team. Japan now head into a quarter-final against South Africa on Sund

Australia laboured to a less than inspiring victory over Georgia in Shizuoka. The Wallabies struggled before claiming a 27-8 victory over the Georgians. Wind, rain, humidity turned the match into an error-strewn and very stop-start. It took more than 20 minutes before the Australian managed to get into the scoreboard. In the 23rd minute, Nic White managed to burrow over the line to get the first try and first points of the match. Georgia quickly responded with a penalty, and then gave one right back to Matt To’omua who slotted and gave the Wallabies a 10-3 lead heading into half-time. Australia had to play the first 5 minutes with 14 men as Isa Naisarani was in the sin-bin after a high tackle on the 35th minute. Marika Koroibete switched the Wallabies back into winning mode with a try in the 59th minute. The Georgians responded with a try from Alexander Todua ten minutes later. However, Jack Dempsey and Will Genia scored two late tries to end Georgia's World C

England secured their place in the World Cup quarter-finals after a convincing 39-10 victory over Argentina at the Tokyo Stadium. The South Americans were forced to play 63 minutes with only 14 men after Lavanini was sent off by referee Nigel Owens for a high challenge in which he struck Owen Farrell 's jaw with his shoulder. It was the fifth red card of a tournament that is being played against the backdrop of World Rugby's crackdown on dangerous tackles and the second in which Farrell was the victim following the dismissal of the USA's John Quill in similar circumstances. After showing early signs of using the setback to mount meaningful resistance, Argentina fell away as England attacked with width, Jonny May and Elliot Daly helping themselves to tries. When the superb George Ford raced over shortly after half-time it was all over for the Pumas , who are effectively out of the World Cup after suffering a second defeat in Pool C. England have now won t