The good news for Springbok fans is that their team is in the World Cup final after beating Wales 19-16 in Tokyo on Sunday.
The bad news is that the team didn’t look good getting through to the decider.
As it is, any coach will tell you that a win is a win, especially when it comes to knockout rugby and with that in mind, it’s box ticked for the Boks.
But the result could easily have gone the other way.
With the two teams locked at 16-16 with seven minutes to go, it was Wales’s Dragons that spat fire on attack, threatening to steal the win from the Boks.
South Africa needed a moment of magic and got it when replacement flanker Francois Louw won a breakdown penalty, competing expertly on a Wales ball.
MATCH-WINNING TOUCH: Springbok Francois Louw. Picture: Annegret Hilse/Reuters.
From there, SA kicked for touch and won another penalty, this time flyhalf Handre Pollard kicked at goal to separate the two sides.
The Boks then held on for the win, but it wasn’t easy in a match that wasn’t nearly exciting as Saturday’s other semifinal between England and New Zealand, a match the English won 19-7.
After three penalties apiece, the scoreboard read 9-9 up until the 65th minute.
With the South Africans kicking the ball 40 times and Wales 41 times, neither team offered much on attack.
ACCURATE: SA's Handre Pollard. Picture: Issei Kato/Reuters.
And despite the Dragons enjoying more than 60 percent of the territory and possession, it was South Africa that scored first through centre Damian de Allende 25 minutes from time.
After taking the ball through five phases, Pollard made a mini break, and with penalty advantage the Springboks then swung the ball wide to De Allende, who powered his way past three Wales defender to make it 16-9 in favour of the Boks.
GAVE AS GOOD AS THEY GOT: Dejected losers Wales. Picture: Issei Kato/Reuters.
Sensing they were about to get knocked out, Wales awoke from their slumber after play restarted again.
When Bok replacement lock Franco Mostert was penalised for holding on, the Welsh smelt blood.
They kicked for touch and took the ball through 18 phases on the Bok tryline, before winning another penalty. This time they called for the scrum, from which they took the ball wide to the left for Josh Adams to score his sixth try of the tournament (16-16).
That’s when Louw entered the fray to produce the moment that ultimately sent the Boks through.
Bok performance ratings:
15 Willie le Roux (4)
Conceded an offside penalty to give Wales their first points of the match and while slightly better than in the match against Japan, still not satisfactory from Le Roux under the high ball.
14 Sbu Nkosi (5)
Didn't have ball in open space and didn’t do much wrong on attack. Looked like a man that needed more time to adjust to the defence structure.
13 Lukhanyo Am (6)
Not a performance to write home about, but Am was once again solid on defence.
12 Damian de Allende (8.5)
Should have won the Man of the Match award with a superb showing both on attack and defence. Rewarded for his efforts with the Boks' only try.
CHALLENGE: Wales' Dan Biggar, second right, tackles South Africa's S'Busiso Nkosi. Picture: Mark Baker/AP.
11 Makazole Mapimpi (6)
Didn't score this time around, but looked for work and also didn’t make any glaring mistakes.
10 Handre Pollard (7)
Surprisingly won the Man of the Match award, despite failing to spark the Bok backline to life. Kicked the winning penalty and did well in the build-up to SA's try.
9 Faf de Klerk (5.5)
His kicking game was off on the day, but there were glimpses of what he can do on attack.
8 Duane Vermeulen (7.5)
Lost the ball in contact with SA on the attack, then ran over a Wales prop a few minutes later that ended the latter’s game to summarise his performance. Always made metres on attack.
7 Pieter-Steph du Toit (8)
With 18 tackles, he simply didn’t stop working and put pressure on the Welsh halfbacks throughout the game.
6 Siya Kolisi (6)
The Bok captain had a satisfying outing, but would like to be more of a breakdown presence when they tackle England next week.
5 Lood de Jager (6.5)
Manned up well against the Wales second row and did well at set piece time. Also, didn’t shy away from doing the donkey work.
PHYSICAL: Pieter-Steph du Toit got physical in the semifinal. Picture: Mark Baker/AP.
4 Eben Etzebeth (6.5)
Best moment of the match was early on when he held up a Wales player to earn the Boks their first scrum of the match.
3 Frans Malherbe (7)
Malherbe is regaining the form that made him a Springbok in the first place. Solid outing at scrum time, while working his socks off on defence as well.
2 Bongi Mbonambi (6)
Conceded a penalty that gave Wales their second three points of the match for tackling a player without the ball. Other than that, he did well.
1 Beast Mtawarira (6.5)
Again emptied his tank before being subbed in the second half.