South Africa

Tries by wingers Makazole Mapimpi and Cheslin Kolbe and the goalkicking of Handre Pollard earned South Africa their third Rugby World Cup title over an error-strewn England.

Superb game management, set piece dominance, brutal defence and almost flawless place-kicking looked like being enough to see off an England side that had dismantled the double defending champion All Blacks in the semi-finals last week.

Kolisi was 16 when the Springboks won their second Rugby World Cup title. There was no television at his home, he recalls, so he had to go to a tavern to watch John Smit lift the trophy after beating England in the 2007 final in Paris.

Twelve years on, the first black player appointed as Springboks captain gets a chance to etch his name in history on Saturday when he leads South Africa in the final against England in Yokohama.

"I know what it did for us back then," Kolisi said of that 2007 victory. "I have never seen people come together (like that) over sport."

Cheslin Kolbe, who sat out the semi-final with an ankle injury, has recovered in time for his nation’s shot at a third title.

The South Africans will enter the final with history on their side; they’ve never lost a World Cup final.

England, by contrast, fell to South Africa in 2007 – the last time the two teams met in a World Cup.

Erasmus was candid during the week and suggested that the Springboks were unlikely to deviate from the tactics that won them their semi-final with Wales.

The South Africans will return to Yokohama next weekend to bid for a third World Cup triumph against an England side who ran defending champions New Zealand out of the tournament with a breathtaking display of rugby on Saturday.

This was the other side of the game, a largely grim arm-wrestle dominated by the boot - there were a total of 81 kicks from hand, effectively one a minute, during the match - and which was appropriately settled by a three-pointer from the kicking tee.

The Six Nations champions are underdogs for the last-four showdown in Yokohama City, where they will be striving to reach the final for the first time.

Wales left it late to beat 14-man France at the quarter-final stage last weekend and must do without full-back Liam Williams (ankle) and flanker Josh Navidi (hamstring) against the Springboks.

Centre Jonathan Davies has been passed fit after a knee problem, though, and head coach Gatland is optimistic his side can defy the odds to earn a shot at the Webb Ellis Cup.

Wales face South Africa in Yokohama on Sunday looking to reach the World Cup final for the first time.

Davies is back in Gatland's XV after missing the narrow last-eight victory over France with a recurrence of an earlier knee injury.

However, Williams is out of this clash and the remainder of the tournament due to a training-ground injury.

Wales reported Williams had suffered the blow to his ankle in an accidental collision and a prognosis was still to be established.

In what was a first World Cup quarter-final for the Japanese, neither an entire nation seemingly now besotted by rugby, nor a raucous 50,000 crowd packed into Tokyo Stadium, could carry the hosts to victory on Sunday.

"Test match rugby is all about creating opportunities and capitalising, but unfortunately they kept us out and with their set-piece... they played well," Japan skipper Michael Leitch said.

"Credit to them."

Virat Kohli enforced the follow-on at the start of the penultimate day after the Proteas were bowled out for 275 in their first innings on Saturday in reply to 601-5 declared.

South Africa's shortcomings with the bat were exposed again on Sunday as they were dismissed for only 189, suffering their heaviest defeat to India in the longest format.

Umesh took 3-22 and Jadeja claimed 3-52, while Ravichandran Ashwin (2-45) also did damage as India sealed a record 11th consecutive series on home soil.

European Space Agency astronaut Parmitano has taken over command of the ISS this week but despite floating more than 250 miles above Japan, he will be able to watch his compatriots take on the Spingboks thanks to the tournament organisers.

In what will be the first Rugby World Cup match broadcast in space, World Rugby is providing a special feed for Parmitano so he can see Conor O’Shea’s men in action.

The Springboks are third in Pool B, behind leaders Italy and New Zealand after losing to the All Blacks in their first match of the tournament.

South Africa responded to their loss to the defending champions by thumping Namibia 57-3 and will be expected to get the better of an Azzurri side who have taken maximum points from their two matches.