Follow Wales' Rugby World Cup semi-final against South Africa via our live blog on Sunday; kick-off 9am BST
Thursday 24 October 2019 11:10, UK
Sky Sports Rugby stats guru Rhodri Jeremiah analyses Wales' win over France and crunches the numbers ahead of Sunday's semi-final clash with South Africa...
Wales' performance against France last Sunday was far from pretty. In fact, many wearing red are still in shock that they are actually through to the semi-finals.
However, the fact Wales have reached their first World Cup semi-final since 2011 not only highlights France's failings during that game but also the Welsh team's strength in character and their 'never give up' attitude.
France are always unpredictable, but are capable of putting in an 80-minute performance. At half-time, when Wales were 19-10 down, Wales head coach Warren Gatland and his staff were hoping that the second 40 would not be a repeat of the first.
There were a number of turning points in this game - the sending-off for starters. Why France went to the corner prior to this incident, instead of kicking for points, is still a mystery.
Justin Tipuric once again had a game to remember and his crucial turnover deep inside his own 22 was a collector's item. He's won six so far in this tournament.
Dan Biggar slotted everything off the tee, kicking all four of his attempts at goal. In fact, he's not missed a kick in his last seven efforts. His opposite number, Romain Ntamack, missed two of his kicks and his penalty which hit the post just before half-time was definitely a mini game-changer.
Wales face South Africa in the second semi-final in Yokohama on Sunday, and Gatland and his coaching team will be relishing this opportunity. Both teams play a similar style and, let's be honest, at times it isn't champagne rugby but it is effective.
Wales' kicking from hand wasn't up to the mark versus France, and their kick chase and kicks to compete will need to be on a different level against South Africa come Sunday.
The two semi-finalists have met on 35 occasions dating back to 1906, with Wales only winning six of those contests. Wales have, however, won their last four meetings against Sunday's opponents.
They have met twice at World Cups, in 2011 and 2015, with South Africa winning on both occasions. Southern Hemisphere sides do have that knack of winning when it matters, but Wales do now also have that mentality; they dig deep and get the result.
South Africa have a perfect line-out. They've won all 57 on their own throw-in in this World Cup. They're the only side in the tournament not to have lost a single line-out.
The Springboks' set-piece is a formidable outfit too. They also have strength in depth across the park and head coach Rassie Erasmus has a wealth of experience at his disposal, with Cheslin Kolbe being the only significant player missing ahead of Sunday due to suffering an ankle injury.
Gatland is without Josh Navidi for the rest of the tournament due to a hamstring injury and this is a big loss. However, the New Zealander has called up Cardiff Blues wing Owen Lane as Navidi's replacement and many say he was unlucky not to have been included in the first place.
Lane is a class act, scoring eight tries in last season's league campaign. He was presented with his World Cup cap by Prince Charles, who popped into training this week during his trip to Japan.
George North has been out of sorts in this World Cup. In this tournament, he has made the same amount of carries as second row Jake Ball (23) and has made an average of six metres per carry.
He is a big-game player and if Wales are to beat South Africa, Gatland needs to see North's form of old, when he was tearing up defences and scoring tries for fun.
The Welsh coaching set-up will be hoping to have Jonathan Davies and Hadleigh Parkes available for selection. Davies missed the quarter-final against France with a recurrence of a knee injury, while Parkes has been playing with a broken hand.
These two are world class and if Wales are to reach their first-ever World Cup final, Gatland will be counting on these centres of excellence to put in a royal performance.
