Dan Carter will finally get to play in a World Cup final after his All Blacks side edged South Africa 20-18 in a rain-sodden semi at Twickenham.
The legendary out-half contributed 10 points in a match that lacked the Southern Hemisphere openness and offloading flair that we have all been raving about for the past week.
The world champions looked nervy in the opening exchanges and fell behind to a Handré Pollard penalty before Jerome Kaino responded with a superb try in the right-hand corner.
Dan Carter missed his only kick of the day but – much like the 24-22 win over Ireland in 2013 – the out-half was given another chance after his conversion was encroached. He nailed that, from the touchline, and was fautless for the rest of the afternoon.
Pollard was kicking just as sweetly and popped over three more from the tee to give the Springboks a 12-7 half-time lead.
Kaino began the second half in the sin-bin – for a neck roll challenge – but a Dan Carter drop goal reduced their deficit to two points. Typical of the hard, determined bastards.
The All Blacks then turned the screw as they heaved into the Boks inside their 22. Kaino returned to put another giant shoulder to the wheel.
The pressure paid off as green jerseys were sucked into mauls and, when play eventually went wide, there was a gap out wide. Ma’a Nonu found replacement Beauden Barrett, JP Pietersen did not trust the man on his inside shoulder, and the Kiwi had enough of a gap to dive over.
From the touchline, again, Carter bisected the posts to make it 20-15.
Pollard went off with 15 minutes to go but Pat Lambie, his replacement, kept up the show of nerveless kicking to make it 20-18. With 12 minutes left on the clock, it made for a tense finish.
Carter was still on the pitch at the death and, having missed out on the 2011 final, he will get an opportunity to claim rugby immortality next Saturday.
