On Saturday, rugby fans were treated to a real spectacle as the All Blacks battled the English in their Rugby World Cup semi-final.

The latter came out on top, leading to a rather dark Sunday in New Zealand, and a worried nation of Bok supporters watching our match against the Welsh.

A classic it was not, and some serious work lies ahead this week, but Rassie Erasmus’ chargers are in with a shot at World Cup glory after pipping their opponents 19-16.

If you somehow missed the match, here are the ‘highlights’. Again, this was not a match for the purist, but a win is a win:

As was to be expected, and as has been the case ever since our tactics were laid bare on the table for all to see, Faf de Klerk and his box-kicking was front and centre during the pre- and post-match debate.

I’m not sure he quite has the art of judging the distance down, and we certainly need to be more competitive in the air, and our style of play is downright ugly to watch.

But again, on Saturday we will contest the Rugby World Cup final, and if you consider where we were as a rugby nation 24 months or so ago, that is cause for much celebration.

Within moments of the final whistle being blown, the memes began to circulate, and Faf de Klerk’s tussle with Welsh lock Jake Ball was one of the more popular starting points.

Here’s that scruff of the collar, face to face showdown:

Faf trying to take on Davies and Ball [1m 17s] from r/rugbyunion

It must be infuriating for Ball to know that he’s powerless to respond, without being the second player in the knockout stages to receive his marching orders.

Enter the memes, with these via IOL:

 

Naturally, a song or two seemed to compliment the action:

Kiss me pic.twitter.com/OZ0eiupR7E

— (@forealziesdayle) October 27, 2019

And…

Someone sent me this @fafdeklerk I want to kniw what love is… #RWC2019 #RSAvWAL pic.twitter.com/HjWl7Drrfd

— Brenden Nel (@BrendenNel) October 27, 2019

There was plenty of love on show in the Springboks’ changing room after the final whistle, with Siya Kolisi and the squad sending a message to the supporters back home:

🇿🇦 From inside the changeroom
🗣️ The boys have a message for you#StrongerTogether #RWC2019 #RWCFinal #WebbEllisCup pic.twitter.com/i33kfGhzPU

— Springboks (@Springboks) October 27, 2019

Don’t let those morons who try and sow discontent tell you otherwise – this is a united squad and supporter base.

There were also words of encouragement from President Cyril Ramaphosa, who laid down the challenge to ‘BoJo’:

Will we be going in as serious underdogs? Yes.

Will we need to raise our game in a big way? Yes.

Will Boris Johnson brush his hair for the big occasion? Probably not.

Will Willie le Roux discover some confidence after what was another error-laden performance? We can only hope.

Do we have a shot at being world champions once more? You fucking bet we do.

To finish, here’s a little feature on Faf, AKA the giant slayer:

[source:iol]