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South Africa scored as they qualified for the Rugby World Cup semi-finals, snubbing France, the main favorites to win the World Cup. The Springboks won by a single point against the home team 29-28 and now face England who beat Fiji 30-24. The event is set to take place on Saturday at the Stade de France in Paris for a place in the finals of the competition.
It was a very even contest. Each side scored three tries in the first half, but it was the hosts who tried harder to go in at half-time. The back-and-forth battle continued in the second half, with the Springboks ultimately more effective in achieving the desired goal: Thomas Ramos scored from the penalty spot and the game ended in victory for the Africans.
England won the other Sunday match. Candidates, the Europeans were ahead of the Fijians throughout the process, selling defeat and positioning themselves as the revelation of the World Cup.
In another key match, New Zealand beat Ireland 28-24. The Irish came away with a great score and topped the world rankings, but statistically they couldn’t do anything against the ever-challenging All Blacks.
Argentina qualified for the semi-finals first. In another impressive performance, Las Pumas came out strong to beat Wales, who are top of the group with no points to spare.
The Pumas and All Blacks meet next Friday at 4:00pm, while England and South Africa play at the same time on Saturday.
All four have already qualified for the 2027 World Cup in Australia, with quarter-final losers Italy, Scotland, Australia and Japan finishing third in their groups. For that tournament, World Rugby is analyzing the possibility of extending the number of participants: it will go from 20 to 24.
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