The Junior Springboks will defend their World Rugby Under-20 Championship title after overcoming a shaky first half to dismantle England 53-37 in Tbilisi on Tuesday, setting up a final against France on Saturday.
Trailing 20-12 at the break, South Africa erupted in the second half, scoring four unanswered tries in the opening 13 minutes to turn the match on its head. Khuthadzo Rasivhaga was the standout performer with a hat-trick, while Yaqeen Ahmed marshalled the attack and contributed 23 points with the boot and a first-half try. Kebotile Maake scored twice in two minutes during that decisive second-half burst, and Luke Cannon added a converted try to seal the margin.
The first half told a different story. A knock-on at South Africa's opening maul set a frustrating tone characterised by handling errors, poor decisions and a penalty kicked dead. England capitalised efficiently — Ollie Streeter crossed in the fourth minute, Hugh Shields converted and added two penalty goals and a try of his own to put England 17-7 up after half an hour.
Ahmed and Rasivhaga pulled South Africa back to 20-12 before half-time, with England's task made harder when flanker Seb Kelly was shown a permanent red card for a headbutt on Luan Giliomee in the 34th minute.
Giliomee, who had been one of South Africa's better performers, then found himself on the wrong end of a disciplinary call when his challenge in the air — yellow-carded initially — was upgraded to a 20-minute red. The incident came with the Junior Boks leading 50-32 and could carry a suspension into Saturday's final.
With Rasivhaga completing his hat-trick in the 53rd minute to make it 40-20, the result was effectively sealed. England scored through Jonny Weimann and Tate Williams late on, and Shields crossed for his second try at the death, but South Africa's buffer was never seriously threatened.
France await in the final after edging New Zealand 26-22 in the first semifinal.