Springboks survive Fijian blitz

South Africa head coach Jake White hailed his captain John Smit after they survived a major scare against Fiji to book a place in the semi-finals.

The Springboks looked to have the match sewn up with the score at 20-6 when Fiji centre Seru Rabeni was sin-binned.

However, in the space of two minutes Fiji scored twice to level the score with 20 minutes remaining.

The Springboks looked rattled but steadied after some words from captain John Smit, grabbing two late tries.

South Africa coach Jake White was full of praise for Smit.

"The captaincy today was outstanding," said White. "John (Smit) was outstanding. The last 20 minutes was the best Test rugby we've played in the past six months.

"He (Smit) spoke in the huddle to his players and said: 'Look, there's still 20 minutes to go and remember the look in the Aussies' and Kiwis' eyes yesterday'. I think that those were very special words said at the right time."

Try-saver

Springbok wing JP Pietersen also helped his side when he pulled off a try-saving tackle in the corner on Fiji second row Ifereimi Rawaqa.

"I just closed my eyes and tried to hit as hard as possible. I guess I was lucky that he was carrying the ball in the wrong hand," said Pietersen.

Fiji captain Mosese Rauluni was proud of his side's effort and rued a few costly mistakes.

"The two games yesterday, they were both upsets. We were hoping for a third upset today but couldn't pull it off.

"We had great belief when we were 13-3 down. We were finding holes in their defence. The boys were making the breaks but unfortunately we couldn't finish off. That's the way rugby goes," said Rauluni.

Fiji fowards serve backline 

While South Africa were dominant in the scrum, an inspired performance by the Fiji forward pack in the loose and at the line-out saw them deliver their backline enough first-phase ball to cause damage.

Number 8 Sisa Koyamaibole played his best match for Fiji, repeatedly crossing the advantage line.

White was keen to put his side's victory into perspective and was not concerned about the patchy performance.

"This is the quarter-final of the world cup," said White. "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?"

irb.com

Match Statistics

20		37
Fiji		South Africa
Tournament: Rugby World Cup Date: Sunday 07 Oct 2007 Venue: Stade Velodrome, Marseille Crowd: 55943 Half-time: 3-13 Referee: Alan Lewis (Ireland) Touch judges: Steve Walsh, Paul Honiss (New Zealand) Fiji Game Number: 612 Fiji Test Match Number: 262

						FIJI		SOUTH AFRICA
Card	PTS	D	P	C	T	PLAYER	V	PLAYER	T	C	P	D	PTS	Card
	0	-	-	-	-	Ligairi, Norman	15	Percy Montgomery	-	3	1	-	9
	5	-	-	-	1	Delasau, Vilimoni	14	JP Pietersen	1	-	-	-	5
	0	-	-	-	-	Ratuvou, Kameli	13	Jaque Fourie	1	-	-	-	5
	0	-	-	-	-	Rabeni, Seru	12	Francois Steyn	-	-	1	-	3
	5	-	-	-	1	Bobo, Sireli	11	Bryan Habana	-	-	-	-	0
	10	-	2	2	-	Bai, Seremaia	10	Butch James	1	-	-	-	5
	0	-	-	-	-	Rauluni, Mosese	9	Fourie du Preez	-	-	-	-	0
	0	-	-	-	-	Koyamaibole, Sisa	8	Danie Rossouw	-	-	-	-	0
	0	-	-	-	-	Qera, Akapusi	7	Juan Smith	1	-	-	-	5
	0	-	-	-	-	Naevo, Semisi	6	Schalk Burger	-	-	-	-	0
	0	-	-	-	-	Rawaqa, Ifereimi	5	Victor Matfield	-	-	-	-	0
	0	-	-	-	-	Leawere, Kele	4	Bakkies Botha	-	-	-	-	0
	0	-	-	-	-	Qiodravu, Henry	3	Jannie du Plessis	-	-	-	-	0
	0	-	-	-	-	Koto, Sunia	2	John Smit (capt)	1	-	-	-	5
	0	-	-	-	-	Dewes, Graham	1	Os Du Randt	-	-	-	-	0
	0	-	-	-	-	Gadolo, Bill   (Koto Sunia)	16	Gary Botha	-	-	-	-	0
	0	-	-	-	-	Railomo, Jone   (Qiodravu Henry)	17	Gurthro Steenkamp	-	-	-	-	0
	0	-	-	-	-	Ratuva, Aca   (Qera Akapusi)	18	Jannie du Plessis	-	-	-	-	0
	0	-	-	-	-	Lewaravu, Wame   (Leawere Kele)	19	Johannes Muller	-	-	-	-	0
	0	-	-	-	-	Daunivucu, Jone	20	Wickus Van Heerden	-	-	-	-	0
	0	-	-	-	-	Luveniyali, Waisea	21	Ruan Pienaar	-	-	-	-	0
	0	-	-	-	-	Lovobalavu, Gabiriele   (Ratuvou Kameli)	22	Wynand Oliver	-	-	-	-	0
Coach: Ilivasi Tabua								Coach: Jake White

Key:

Captain
Yellow Card
Red Card
Sub In
Sub Out
Bloodbin

Scoring Sequence

02 min - PEN GOAL MISSED for South Africa by Percy Montgomery 0-0 08 min - PEN GOAL for South Africa by Francois Steyn 0-3 13 min - TRY for South Africa by Jaque Fourie 0-8 13 min - CONVERSION MISSED for South Africa by Percy Montgomery 0-8 26 min - PEN GOAL for Fiji by Bai, Seremaia 3-8 35 min - TRY for South Africa by John Smit 3-13 35 min - CONVERSION MISSED for South Africa by Percy Montgomery 3-13 Half-Time 44 min - PEN GOAL for Fiji by Bai, Seremaia 6-13 51 min - TRY for South Africa by JP Pietersen 6-18 52 min - CONVERSION for South Africa by Percy Montgomery 6-20 57 min - TRY for Fiji by Delasau, Vilimoni 11-20 58 min - CONVERSION for Fiji by Bai, Seremaia 13-20 59 min - TRY for Fiji by Bobo, Sireli 18-20 60 min - CONVERSION for Fiji by Bai, Seremaia 20-20 63 min - PEN GOAL for South Africa by Percy Montgomery 20-23 70 min - TRY for South Africa by Juan Smith 20-28 70 min - CONVERSION for South Africa by Percy Montgomery 20-30 80 min - TRY for South Africa by Butch James 20-35 80 min - CONVERSION for South Africa by Percy Montgomery 20-37 Full-Time