And then there were four. The World Cup semi-finals will see England take on New Zealand and Wales face South Africa after four entertaining quarter-finals. On Saturday both England and New Zealand stamped their authority on their opposition, while Wales and South Africa came through two trying encounters. The closest game of the weekend came on Sunday in Oita as Wales left it late to see off 14-man France. Ross Moriarty, the Dragons back-rower, went from villain to hero as he scored the winning try in a 20-19 success, having been sin-binned in the first half. His Dragons teammate Aaron Wainwright had scored Wales’s first try, racing in from halfway after scooping up a loose ball, but it was France who had dominated the first half, running in three tries to lead 19-10. They were on the attack again in the second half when Sébastien Vahaamahina lost his head and threw an elbow at Wainwright in a maul. He was duly sent off, and Wales ground their way through, with Moriarty clinching it six minutes from time. That puts Wales back into the World Cup semi-finals, their third, with Alun Wyn Jones, George North, Leigh Halfpenny and Jonathan Davies back into the last four, eight years after doing the same in New Zealand. There were parallels with that game, a one-point victory for France against a 14-man Wales, while their semi-final against South Africa will bring back memories of 2015 when they came so close to knocking off the Springboks in the quarter-finals. They are hopeful of having Davies back for that game after he pulled out at the last minute against Les Bleus. Ospreys centre Owen Watkin came in to replace him and played his part in the success. BOK POWER Their semi-final opponent was in the balance for an hour in Tokyo, before South Africa eventually had too much for hosts Japan. The 26-3 final score does not reflect how tight the game was for a half, with Japan monopolising territory and possession. South Africa were far from clinical when they created opportunities of their own, but former Toyota Cheetahs winger Makazole Mapimpi grabbed two tries to set Rassie Erasmus’ team on their way through.
