LONDON, 17 Oct - A late Fourie du Preez try sent South Africa into the Rugby World Cup semi-finals and denied Wales a famous victory in the first quarter-final of RWC2015 at Twickenham on Saturday.
The Springboks scrum-half (pictured above) picked up Duane Vermeulen's sublime flick from the base of the scrum and raced over in the corner to secure a 23-19 victory for Heyneke Meyer's side.
Wales had edged ahead 13-12 at the break thanks to a 40th-minute drop-goal from Dan Biggar, who had earlier brilliantly set up scrum-half Gareth Davies for his fifth try of the tournament - drawing him level with South Africa's Bryan Habana and New Zealand's Julian Savea as RWC 2015's top try-scorer.
The Springboks dominated the early stages of the second half but Handre Pollard, unerring before the break with four scores from four penalty attempts, began to wobble as he missed two efforts from the tee.
Pollard did bag his second drop-goal of the tournament as the sides traded three-pointers, as two more penalties from Biggar maintained Wales' one-point advantage with five minutes remaining.
But there was late heartbreak for Warren Gatland's injury-hit side, who had beaten the Springboks just twice in their history, as Du Preez crossed the line in the 75th minute for the match-winning touchdown.
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