White pleased with Springboks prospects

South Africa coach Jake White believes his players are in solid shape heading towards their World Cup semi-final against Argentina next Sunday.

The Springboks booked an expected place in the last four, but not before Fiji gave them a major fright at Stade Velodrome.

The Springboks were pegged back to 20-20 midway through a frantic second period as Fiji wiped out a 14-point deficit through converted tries by wings Vilimoni Delasau and Sireli Bobo.

But South Africa, who had struggled to cope with sustained Fiji pressure, ultimately prevailed 37-20, claiming five touchdowns through John Smit, Jaque Fourie, Juan Smith, JP Pietersen and Butch James.

A relieved White said: “We scored five tries to two, but we didn’t play as well as we could have.

“But we go through with no injuries. What more do you want two weeks out from a World Cup final?

“The last 20 minutes was the best Test rugby we’ve played in the past six months. All credit to John (Smit) and the senior players.

“No-one would have said that during one Saturday New Zealand and Australia, number one and two, would be knocked out of the World Cup.

“It speaks a great deal that there is no way you can prepare for pressure.

“We didn’t play as well we we could have done, we know that, but we have still got a chance to win the World Cup.

“Fiji are a really good rugby team. They off-load in the tackles, they break tackles and defensively they are very strong. To score five tries against them is a huge positive.

Fiji – conquerors of Wales eight days earlier – pushed an unbeaten South African side to the limit.

Had lock Ifereimi Rawaqa not gone within inches of adding a third second-half touchdown – he was denied by a brilliant Pietersen tackle – Fiji might have prevailed.

But in the end, South Africa’s forward strength and technical discipline guided them through.

Skipper Smit said: “We didn’t want to allow them into the game, and when we played in their half, everything went well for us.

“We are quite happy we got out alive, especially looking at the other results during the weekend.

“Fiji came out at us, and at 20-20, I thought I didn’t want to be in that position with only a couple of minutes to go.

“But there were still 20 minutes left, and we put ourselves into a position to get back into their 22.

“The priority was to get through, but we made life difficult for ourselves. We knew Fiji were solid and well organised, with a couple of great runners. Their skills are top-class.”

Fiji captain Mosese Rauluni, comfortably his team’s best player, acclaimed an outstanding performance by the Pacific Islanders.

He said: “I couldn’t be more proud of the boys for their effort. It has been a great ride in this World Cup, but the road stops here.

“We had great belief when we 13-3 down, because we knew we were finding holes in their defence.

“A few mistakes started to creep into South Africa’s game, and the boys were really bouncing, but they eventually punished us and really put pressure on our scrum.”