England hearts break as South Africa pull off miracle World Cup comeback

England have had their hearts broken at the Rugby World Cup, as South Africa snatched victory in a miracle comeback win.

South Africa beat England in a thrilling semifinal.

South Africa have broken the hearts of England after claiming a thrilling 16-15 win in their Rugby World Cup semi-final on Sunday morning (AEDT).

The Proteas trailed virtually the entire game as England’s forwards came to play and were sensational in the wet conditions at the Stade de France in Paris.

England fly half Owen Farrell nailed a monster drop goal from 46 metres out on an angle to put his side up 15-6 with half an hour remaining.

Farrell slotted four first-half penalties as well to score all of England’s points.

But just as it looked like England were home and hosed, South Africa scored a gritty try through RG Synan to trail 15-13.

Utter heartbreak for England and Owen Farrell. (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)

South Africa’s forwards then starred with epic scrums at both ends of the field and England gave away a scrum penalty on halfway with three minutes to go.

Substitute Handre Pollard then nailed the penalty kick to put South Africa up 16-13 in the 77th minute and held on to claim a miracle comeback win.

No Scrum
No Win
Even for 30 minutes. Fair play England. Good game plan well executed. But Springboks bench excellent 💪#ENGvsRSA#RWC23

— Bernard Jackman (@bernardjackman) October 21, 2023

I'm fine 🥺 #ENGvSA

— Chris Medland (@ChrisMedlandF1) October 21, 2023

Pollard, who once again proved the heartbreaker for the English having scored 22 points in the 32-12 victory in the 2019 World Cup final, came on after just half an hour of the match.

South African head coach Jacques Nienaber made a huge call in removing the ineffective and out-of-sorts Manie Libbok and replacing him with Pollard.

Wallabies great Tim Horan said on Stan Sport: “Wow that’s unbelievable from Pollard. England were so good for 77 minutes.”

Rugby commentators were struggling to deal with the drama of the tight finish.

“Oh my goodness, to be honest I am lost for words,” former South Africa captain Bobby Skintad said on the BBC.

“A performance for the ages from England. South Africa by their finger nails stayed in that game.”

Former Englandscrum half Matt Dawson also said: “England were magnificent today, but they will be gutted.

“I’m very proud to call that game and watch England put that performance in.”

He went on to say: “All sports people lose games they should have won, but to do it on the World stage in the semi-finals — England will be inconsolable for a long time”.

England fullback Freddie Steward summed it up by saying “sport is cruel”.

Handre Pollard penalty kick was the difference in the end. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

South Africa will now face New Zealand in a blockbuster final next weekend as both sides look to become the first nation to win four Rugby World Cup titles.

The All Blacks beat Argentina 44-6 on Saturday to cruise through to the final.

Interestingly, neither South Africa or New Zealand finished top of their pools in the group stage but they have found form at the pointy end of the tournament.

The heartbreaking result means England’s Rugby World Cup drought continues, with their lone triumph coming back in 2003.