South Africa set up final showdown against England

PARIS: Bryan Habana equalled Jonah Lomu’s World Cup try-scoring record to help South Africa join England in this Saturday’s final with a ruthless 37-13 win over Argentina at the Stade de France on Sunday.

Habana showed why he remains the deadliest finisher in the game with two spectacular tries as the Springboks produced an awesome display of power and speed to reach their first final since they won the Webb Ellis Cup at home 12 years ago.

“We had a pretty distinct plan for the first 40 and I think that went pretty well,” Springboks captain John Smit said in a televised interview.

Touchdown: Argentina’s Horacio Agulla fails to stop South Africa’s Fourie du Preez from scoring a try during their World Cup semifinal match at the Stade de France Stadium on Sunday. South Africa won 37-13. – Reuters

“We rested on our laurels in the first part of the second-half but their try certainly switched us back on and we got back into Test rugby and got ourselves back on the front foot. We’re pretty happy with how things went today.”

Argentina had provided one of the great feel-good stories of a tournament packed with surprises by making the last four for the first time but wilted under the enormous pressure applied by the Springboks.

The Pumas were unable to dominate the South African scrum the way they had with other teams and made too many crucial mistakes after being battered by the South African defenders.

Sportsmanship: Argentinian players applauding their victorious South African counterparts after their World Cup semi-final match on Sunday. – AP

“It was a really tough game. South Africa are a really good team,” said Argentina coach Marcelo Loffreda. “They were very consistent. We made a lot of errors and we paid a high price.”

The Springboks scored four tries, all from Argentina mistakes, with Habana helping himself to two to overtake Australian Drew Mitchell as the tournament’s top try-scorer and match New Zealander Lomu’s record haul of eight in the 1999 World Cup.

Scrumhalf Fourie du Preez and number eight Danie Rossouw also crossed while fullback Percy Montgomery kicked seven from seven for a personal haul of 17 points.

The Pumas managed a consolation try from outside centre Manuel Contepomi but made too many errors to mount a sustained challenge.

They gifted the Springboks a try after just seven minutes when du Preez intercepted a poorly-judged pass from Felipe Contepomi and sprinted 70m, then conceded two more tries before half-time off turnovers.

Habana’s instincts for making something out of nothing saw him score a 60m try after Schalk Burger stripped Argentine No 8 Gonzalo Longo of the ball and Francois Steyn flung it wide to Habana, who chipped the ball over Lucas Borges to score at the other end of the field.

Felipe Contepomi booted two first-half penalties to calm Argentina’s nerves before another blunder on the stroke of half-time handed the Springboks a third try, flyhalf Juan Martin Hernandez dropping a sloppy pass from Agustin Pichot that led to Rossouw scoring.

Argentina briefly threatened to make a comeback when Manuel Contepomi was given the benefit of the doubt and awarded a try early in the second half but they faded in the last quarter as tempers started to fray.

The Springboks piled on 13 unanswered points and Habana bagged his second with an 80m intercept. – Reuters