South Africa broke Japanese hearts with a 26-3 quarter-final victory on Sunday to set up a Rugby World Cup semi-final against Wales, who needed a late try to scrape past 14-man France by a single point. Japan showed their trademark pace and adventure in a promising first half, but they were worn down by the two-time world champions who scored 21 unanswered points in the second period.

Defeat brought an end to Japan's marvellous run, in which they stunned Ireland and Scotland en route to topping Pool A unbeaten and reaching the quarter-finals for the first time, rising to an all-time high of sixth in the world rankings.

Rugby is far from the most popular sport in Japan, but fans have come out in numbers - and watched on TV in their millions - for the first World Cup held in Asia. Sunday's results completed the semi-finals line-up for next weekend, after defending champions New Zealand brushed aside Ireland to go on a collision course with England, who convincingly beat Australia.

There were worrying signs for Japan when wing Makazole Mapimpi brushed off fly-half Yu Tamura's tackle to score in the corner in the third minute. But fleet-footed Japan, dominating possession, were soon giving South Africa the run-around and Tamura got them on the board at 3-5 down after a surprising scrum penalty against the heavyweight Springboks pack. Handling errors cost South Africa dear in a frustrating first half but they gradually tightened the screws after the break as Pollard kicked three penalties before Faf de Klerk and Mapimpi delivered late tries.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2019