South Africa have 'homework to do' before Rugby World Cup final against All Blacks

The Springboks’ poor start to the semi-final victory almost cost them before they rallied to win 16-15 on Saturday.

The holders trailed 12-6 at the break after back-rowers Siya Kolisi and Pieter-Steph du Toit were both penalised and England’s Owen Farrell succeeded with four penalties.

The Boks’ lineouts misfired too, losing three of 10 during the game, half as many as they had in their previous five games in the tournament.

Next Saturday in Paris, they face an All Blacks side that swept Argentina aside with ease and scored a competition-leading 325 points.

“We’ll have to come up with a plan,” Boks fly-half Handre Pollard told reporters after the game.

“They’re really playing an explosive game, punishing teams from all over the park.

“We’ll have to do homework for that,” Pollard said.

Pollard, 29, kicked the match-winning penalty in difficult weather conditions in the 77th minute in Paris, four years after booting the decisive points with four minutes left against Wales in the semi-final in Japan.

A week later in Yokohama, he slotted 22 of South Africa’s 32 points in the final victory over England.

“Leading up to the last few minutes of the game you knew it would come down to something like that,” Pollard said.

“There was a little bit of a crosswind. The wind didn’t do too much. It rained all night so it made it slippery,” he added.

That opportunity came from replacement prop Ox Nche winning a penalty from a scrum, as the tight-head prop settled a Springboks set-piece which had been uncomfortable against England.

They lost four scrums, as they did against France in last weekend’s quarter-final, which will be another point of concern for Nienaber and his shrewd-thinking director of rugby Rassie Erasmus.

“Our scrum saved