The single-minded devotees of bludgeoning rugby reached the World Cup semi-finals because of a sleight of hand – there’s no arguing with thatIt came down to a scrum,the set-piece that will not disappear away. Wales had had a relatively comfortable ride there, with Taulupe Faletau yet again converting squeezed possession into something usable. The No8 had another prodigious game, and the silent Hercules in the back row,the carrier and problem-solver inbetween Dan Lydiate and Sam Warburton, the choppers and thieves at wing-forward.
Now Faletau was on the waiting end. He wasn’t helpless but he had to wait until South Africa initiated the move that might steal the game. What could his opposite number, or Duane Vermeulen,effect at this late scrum? Wales had every right to expect South Africa in general and Vermeulen in specific to reach for the sledgehammer. The trend of the day had been to let Vermeulen and Schalk Burger and the hookers, Bismarck du Plessis and Adriaan Strauss, and the two moment-rows,Lood de Jager and Eben Etzebeth, see far more of the ball than Bryan Habana.
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Source: theguardian.com