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JOHANNESBURG - South Africa's media declared the Springboks the new favourites to win the rugby World Cup after they narrowly avoided becoming the third victim of a weekend of quarter-final upsets.
Newspapers breathed a sigh of relief that the Boks saw off a brave challenge by Fiji who at one stage were level-pegging at 20-20 but said the demise of fellow Southern hemisphere giants Australia and New Zealand at the hands of England and France meant the tournament was now up for grabs.
"Four years ago they had their worst ever result in the tournament after they lost in the quarter-finals to the All Blacks in one of the darkest times in recent Bok history," said The Star newspaper.
"In four years they have become a team that can adapt and are - as of this morning - the favourites to win the World Cup."
Business Day agreed that the Boks, winners of the tournament in 1995, had taken "a massive leap towards realising their dream of lifting the Webb Ellis trophy" but said the Fjiians had "played their hearts out and gave the Springboks a real fright."
Most papers agreed the turning point was when Bok winger JP Pietersen made a desperate tackle on the line to prevent Fijian lock Ifereimi Rawaqa from scoring a try that would have taken the Pacific islanders into the lead with little more than 10 minutes to go.
"JP's tackle saves Boks" was the headline for The Times which said that Fiji came within a whisker of pulling off the biggest shock in the World Cup to date.
"Brave Fiji took the Boks to the edge of the abyss and only just failed to tip them into rugby oblivion where they would have joined the All Blacks," said the paper.
The match was not only gripping viewing in South Africa but also closely watched by the nation's cricket team who are currently touring Pakistan.
Proteas' skipper Graeme Smith, whose team have earned the tag of chokers after their failures at recent world cups, said it was a nail-biting performance.
"We've been keen to see their progress and are delighted with their semifinal spot," Smith told The Pretoria News. "They were hungry for success and it paid off. But they gave us a few tense moments."
- AFP
