South Africa will play England in the Rugby World Cup final after Handre Pollard scored 14 points to steer Rassie Erasmus' team to a hard-fought 19-16 victory over Wales in Yokohama on Sunday.

Pollard nervelessly kicked the decisive penalty with four minutes to go as the tense game threatened to go to extra time with the scores locked at 16-16.

"We're in the final of the World Cup... but that's only half way there. We'd love to win the World Cup," said South Africa coach Rassie Erasmus. "We play a class England team in the final now but we're there. We've got a a chance now and we might go all the way. You never know."

It was a true battle of the boot as the 1995 and 2007 World Cup champions ground out a victory that consigned Wales to their third tournament semi-final defeat after previous losses in 2011 and 1987.

"It wasn't our day but I'm still proud to pull this jersey on and represent all the people in this stadium," said Wales captain Alun Wyn Jones, who was close to tears.

The two teams played out a dreadful first half of rugby dominated by turgid set-piece, crash balls and aerial combat as both sides kicked the leather off the ball. There was none of the verve shown by England in their gripping 19-7 victory over New Zealand on Saturday, but the slowed rhythm suited the Springboks and their giant pack of forwards, reprising the tactics they also employed in their 26-3 quarter-final victory over Japan.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2019