Rugby World Cup: South Africa vs Wales

Rugby World Cup semifinals - South Africa have beaten Wales 19-16 to book themselves a spot in next weekend's final. Look back at how the much unfolded here.

Match info

The semifinal is being played at the same venue as the All Blacks vs England game - International Stadium in Yokohama, 40 kilometres south of downtown Tokyo.

International Stadium hasn't been the greatest of grounds for South Africa, they lost to New Zealand in their opening match of the tournament there 23-13.

Wales meanwhile haven't played in Yokohama yet, so this will be their first time at the 72,327 seat stadium.

Frenchman Jerome Garces will referee the match and will be assisted by Wayne Barnes (England) and Ben O'Keeffe (New Zealand). Ben Skeen of New Zealand will be the Television Match Official.

Kickoff in Yokohama will be at 10pm New Zealand time.

How to watch the South Africa vs Wales semifinal

The match will be shown live on Spark Sport and TVNZ1, and liveblogged by RNZ.

The teams

South Africa

1. Tendai Mtawarira

2. Mbongeni Mbonambi

3. Frans Malherbe

4. Eben Etzebeth

5. Lodewyk de Jager

6. Siya Kolisi

7. Pieter-Steph du Toit

8. Duane Vermeulen

9. Faf de Klerk

10. Handre Pollard

11. Makazole Mapimpi

12. Damian de Allende

13. Lukhanyo Am

14. S'busiso Nkosi

15. Willie le Roux

16. Malcolm Marx

17. Steven Kitshoff

18. Vincent Koch

19. Rg Snyman

20. Franco Mostert

21. Francois Louw

22. Herschel Jantjies

23. Frans Steyn

Wales

1. Wyn Jones

2. Ken Owens

3. Tom Francis

4. Jake Ball

5. Alun Wyn Jones

6. Aaron Wainwright

7. Justin Tipuric

8. Ross Moriarty

9. Gareth Davies

10. Dan Biggar

11. Josh Adams

12. Hadleigh Parkes

13. Jonathan Davies

14. George North

15. Leigh Halfpenny

16. Elliot Dee

17. Rhys Carre

18. Dillon Lewis

19. Adam beard

20. Aaron Shingler

21. Tomos Williams

22. Rhys Patchell

23. Owen Watkin

What the coaches are saying

Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus knows the importance of knockout rugby and is imploring his team to be at their best.

"We must find those pressure points - when we get the opportunity, we must utilise them," Erasmus said. "And don't give some soft moments away: then we have a chance. And be consistent - that's the biggest work-on for us.

"I think we do have the pack and backline players to go all the way, but in a game which is 80 minutes - if you have four minutes where you drop your standards, you will get caught out.

"I guess we don't need to improve in specific departments. It's more trying to concentrate for 80 minutes of rugby - that's where we should improve if we want to try and win the World Cup."

On Wales Erasmus said: "They are definitely a team with a lot of X-factor. Wales took almost a second-string side to Argentina last year and gave them a whitewash there. So they have depth in every single position, and they have good confidence and a great team spirit."

Meanwhile, Wales coach Warren Gatland is expecting an old school kicking contest between the two sides.

"It will probably be a kicking fest. They kicked 30 times against Japan so we have got to handle their game.

"It won't be the prettiest game in the world. Kolbe is a big loss to them with his ability to score tries and his footwork.

"We were probably going to target him aerially anyway. At this stage of the tournament, you are always going to lose a couple of quality players, and in them losing Kolbe and us losing Liam Williams, it's one each in terms of that."

As for the moment itself, Gatland wants to relish it given he'll be returning to New Zealand after the tournament to take up Chiefs head coaching role after 12 years in Wales.

"I have two games to go as the Wales coach and I want to enjoy these last two games. For us to get to the final of a World Cup, it will be unbelievable given the small playing numbers we have in Wales, the four teams. We feel like we continually punch above our weight."