South Africa vs. New Zealand: Score, Reaction from Rugby World Cup 2015 Semi

New Zealand beat South Africa 20-18 at Twickenham, London, to reach the final of the Rugby World Cup 2015.

The All Blacks scored the only try of the first half through Jerome Kaino, but the Springboks held a five-point lead at half-time thanks to four Handre Pollard penalties. New Zealand's Beauden Barrett was the only player to go over in the second half in a hard-fought encounter.

The match was fairly close, with neither side reaching their typically high standards for much of the proceedings—New Zealand in particular—but the All Blacks' incredible defence gave the Springboks almost no chance to score a try of their own.

Frank Augstein/Associated Press

South Africa drew first blood after New Zealand were penalised for an offside at a maul after three minutes.

Just two minutes later, the All Blacks hit back as Kaino found space on the right after Richie McCaw found him with a lovely pass, per ITV Rugby:

Dan Carter unusually missed the resulting conversion, but he was allowed to retake it after Bryan Habana charged down the ball too early. He made no mistake with his second attempt.

Another offside immediately after gave Pollard another opportunity, and the fly-half comfortably stuck the kick between the posts from 30 metres out.

An intense exchange followed with South Africa proving strong in the air but unable to find a way past the All Blacks' impenetrable defence, save for two more penalties before half-time.

Opta Jonny revealed their phenomenal tackling success:

New Zealand were failing to replicate the kind of rampant attacking performance level they'd shown earlier in the tournament and rarely proved too troubling for the Springboks' line, while Carter again made a surprising miss with a penalty of his own.

Thanks in part to a superb performance from Francois Louw, South Africa were magnificent at the breakdown, winning eight penalties and four turnovers.

Rugby journalist Simon Thomas was among those praising the flanker:

Carter was briefly left in too much space shortly after the restart and surprised the opposition with an instinctive drop-goal, and as the All Blacks steadily built some pressure they were soon rewarded with their second try of the game.

The fly-half again played an important role as he stole the ball from Schalk Burger, and it was eventually worked to the left where it found Ma'a Nonu. The centre did well to draw in two Springboks players before passing to Barrett, who went over in the corner with ease:

Pollard and Carter quickly exchanged further penalties before substitute Patrick Lambie cut the lead to two points with an excellent angled kick from 45 metres:

South Africa continued to push in search of what would have been a decisive score, but they were largely pinned in their own half in the final 10 minutes by New Zealand, who missed just three tackles in the entire match.

New Zealand will face either Argentina or Australia in the final and will undoubtedly be considered the favourites against either.

The All Blacks weren't at their majestic best on Saturday, but it's equally important they're able to grind out wins as well, which will stand them in good stead as they seek to defend their title.  

Post-Match Reaction

According to BBC Sport's Tom Fordyce, New Zealand coach Steve Hansen said: 

"

It was always going to be close, they're a great side and they showed that again. I was really proud of our guys, they kept their composure.

We just needed to come out for the second half and start taking the game to them rather than waiting for them to take it to us. We talked about it at half-time. We talked about keeping composure and talked about winning the first 10 minutes.

"

Per Fordyce, South Africa coach Heyneke Meyer was disappointed with his team's performance in the second half: "Our discipline in the second half was just not good enough. They coped better with the weather in the second half. Discipline was the most important thing, especially in these rainy conditions."

He added: "We wanted to make our country proud but we didn't. We should have pulled this win through but all credit to the All Blacks, they are a quality side."