The Springboks are into the Rugby World Cup final after edging a determined England 16-15 at Stade de France in Paris on Saturday night.

The English lead the semi-final in Saint-Denis 12-6 at half time, but it was a penalty right at the death that won the semi-final for the defending champions. The win sets up just a second Rugby World Cup final between the Springboks and the All Blacks.

Owen Farrell opened the scoring in Paris with a penalty in the third minute and then doubled the lead minutes later.

Manie Libbok got the Boks on the board in the 21st minute with a penalty of his own, but that was his only contribution of the match.

Farrel landed two more penalties, while Handré Pollard landed a three-pointer to see the score to 12-6 at half time.

Farrell opened the scoring with a drop goal in the second stanza, but that was also their final score of the game.

The swing came in the 70th minute when RG Snyman crashed over for a try from a clever variation from a lineout. Pollard added the extra two with the conversion to make it a two point game.

The Boks started milking the scrum penalties through solid work by the former Cheetah, Ox Nche, and the most important of these came with two minutes remaining.

A cool, calm and collected Pollard nailed the long-range penalty from just inside the English half to steal the lead.

This proved to be the match-winning score to see the Boks into the final for a fourth time. For his efforts, Pollard was named as the Player of the Match.

The win also sees the Boks retain their unbeaten record against England at Stade de France with four wins from four.

The Boks and All Blacks will battle it out next week Saturday at Stade de France in the final.

Scorers:

Springboks: Try – RG Snyman Conv. – Handré Pollard Pen. – Libbok, Pollard 2

England: Pen. – Farrell 4 Drop Goal – Farrell

Teams:

Springboks - 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Cheslin Kolbe, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Steven Kitshoff

Replacements – 16 Deon Fourie, 17 Ox Nche, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Faf de Klerk, 22 Handré Pollard, 23 Willie le Roux

England - 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Jonny May, 13 Joe Marchant, 12 Manu Tuilagi, 11 Elliot Daly, 10 Owen Farrell (captain), 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Ben Earl, 7 Tom Curry, 6 Courtney Lawes, 5 George Martin, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Jamie George, 1 Joe Marler

Replacements - 16 Theo Dan, 17 Ellis Genge, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 Ollie Chessum, 20 Billy Vunipola, 21 Danny Care, 22 George Ford, 23 Ollie Lawrence

Morgan Piek OFM Sport