RUGBY WORLD CUP: South Africa v Wales Quarter-final 1

17.10.2015

Venue: Twickenham

Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)

Preview
The first of the World Cup semi-finals is a huge game for both teams. South Africa started the tournament with a disastrous loss to Japan whilst Wales has reeled from one major injury crises to another. Despite this both teams have made strong efforts to reach this stage and deserve to be here.

Wales became the first nail in the English rugby coffin for 2015. Their stunning comeback in the second half showed this is a team with real character.

South Africa were in disgrace back home after their loss to Japan. An unthinkable result for the die-hard Springbok supporters of a proud rugby nation. They have pulled their game together and played some powerful expansive rugby to defeat Scotland and Samoa in pool play.

This is going to a bruising encounter. Both teams have a very physical approach to the game. I’m going for Wales because they will match the South Africa physical game but have a very young and enterprising backline. They will also have the vast majority of the Twickenham crowd behind them-a sea of red.

Last Five Encounters
29.11.2014 Wales 12-6 in Cardiff
21.06.2014 South Africa 31-30 in Nelspruit
14.06.2014 South Africa 38-16 in Durban
09.11.2013 South Africa 24-15 in Cardiff
11.09.2011 South Africa 17-16 in Wellington (World Cup, Pool D)

Previous World Cups
11.09.2011 South Africa 17-16 in Wellington (Pool D)

South Africa Last Five P 5, W 3, L 2
07.10.2015 v United States W 64-0 in London (World Cup, Pool B)
03.10.2015 v Scotland W 34-16 in Newcastle (World Cup, Pool B)
26.09.2015 v Samoa W 46-6 in Birmingham (World Cup, Pool B)
19.09.2015 v Japan L 32-34 in Brighton (World Cup, Pool B)
08.08.2015 v Argentina L 25-37 in Durban (Rugby Championship)

Wales Last Five P 5, W 4, L 1
10.10.2015 v Australia L 6-15 at Twickenham (World Cup, Pool A)
01.10.2015 v Wales W 23-13 in Cardiff (World Cup, Pool A)
26.09.2015 v England W 28-25 at Twickenham (World Cup, Pool A)
20.09.2015 v Uruguay W 54-9 in Cardiff (World Cup, Pool A)
05.09.2015 v Italy W 23-19 in Cardiff (World Cup Warm Up)

GWC Rugby Rankings
World Table: Wales 2nd, South Africa 7th

World Rugby Ranking Points
Wales 85.71, South Africa 84.58

Prediction: Wales by 2 points. Score 24-22

TEAMS

South Africa
15 William le Roux, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende,
11 Bryan Habana, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Fourie du Preez (Capt.), 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Schalk Burger, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements
16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Jannie du Plessis, 19 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 20 Willem Alberts, 21 Ruan Pienaar, 22 Patrick Lambie, 23 Jan Serfontein.
Head Coach: Heyneke Meyer

Wales
15 Gareth Anscombe, 14 Alexander Cuthbert, 13 Tyler Morgan, 12 James Roberts, 11 George North, 10 Daniel Biggar, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Samuel Warburton (Capt.), 6 Daniel Lydiate, 5 Alun Wyn Jones,
4 Luke Charteris, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Scott Baldwin, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements
16 Kenneth Owens, 17 Paul James, 18 Thomas Francis, 19 Bradley Davies,
20 Justin Tipuric, 21 Lloyd Williams, 22 Rhys Priestland, 23 James Hook
Head Coach: Warren Gatland