South Africa 37 Fiji 20:As if Saturday's shocks were not enough, Fiji came within an inch of threatening the greatest upset in the history of international rugby.

The South Africa back Jaque Fourie had said last week that the Pacific Islanders did not merit the respect of the Springboks, which even before yesterday stood out as one of the tournament's more inane remarks, but at the end the crowd rose to acknowledge one of the most skilful sides in the World Cup.

Fiji used Fourie's words as motivation and there was a point 15 minutes before the end when the South Africa captain, John Smit, called his players together after the islanders, at that stage down to 14 men, had not only pulled back to 20-20 but had come with a fraction of an inch of taking the lead when, first, the replacement prop Jone Railomo was held up after a forward drive and then the secondrow Kele Rawaqa caught a long and apparently forward pass from Seru Rabeni and looked certain to score.

All he needed to do was dip his shoulder and dive for the line, but he hesitated and the wing JP Pietersen forced him into touch in goal.

The decision went to the video referee and was an easy call, though the crowd voiced displeasure at his refusal to sanction the score.

"John told the players that he could see in their eyes what he had seen in those of the Australia and New Zealand players at the same stage in their games the previous day," said South Africa's coach, Jake White. "He told them to snap out of it and it was a magnificent example of leadership under . . . pressure."

If Australia and New Zealand did not expect to be going home before the semi-finals, the Springboks had not entertained the prospect of being humbled by Fiji, but for a few crazy minutes on an extraordinary weekend the impossible seemed to be on the cards.

South Africa had talked about playing a structured game and kicking Fiji deep into their own territory, but they were suckered into throwing the ball around and made numerous handling errors, with the 20-year-old centre Francois Steyn especially culpable.

Fiji voraciously seized on loose possession and had come armed with bolstered set-pieces. But even though the Springboks had lost sight of what they were supposed to do with the ball in hand, their defence was resolute.

Fiji still made dents, with their backrows all a handful on the charge, and at outhalf Seremaia Bai, the former Cross Keys (England) player who had taken over from the injured Nicky Little, had a dream afternoon, carrying the ball right up to the gainline, running from deep and organising his support runners to extend the South African defence.

The difference between potential World Cup winners such as South Africa and a nation that deserves more than the derisory two Tests a year it is allotted lies essentially in the taking of opportunities.

South Africa lacked shape in the first half but still led 13-3 at the interval, Steyn's long-range penalty, harshly awarded for an offence the Springboks had just got away with, being followed by tries from Fourie and Smit, both resulting from lineout takes and forward drives.

Bai kicked penalties either side of the interval to keep Fiji interested, but their inability to offload consistently stifled their attacks.

When Pietersen made it 20-6 with a try after South Africa had just defended their line for five minutes, the islanders appeared to be waving goodbye, especially as their centre Rabeni was sent to the sinbin for flattening Butch James in the build-up to the try. And then it all went mad.

The wing Vilimoni Delasau created a try out of nothing when he kicked ahead on halfway and easily won the race for the touchdown.

From the kick-off Bai launched an attack in his own 25 and the full-back Norman Ligairi took the ball up to halfway, where Mosese Rauluni surged away from the breakdown. He seemed certain to score until his legs seized up, but the wing Sireli Bobo appeared over his left shoulder and took two men with him over the line. Bai's second conversion made it 20-20 and South Africa were reeling.

Then came Smit's speech, his players blinked their eyes and the final minutes were, from the neutral's perspective, an anticlimax as South Africa tightened things up, Percy Montgomery kicked a penalty and Juan Smith and Butch James scored unpopular tries.

Fiji captain Mosese Rauluni, comfortably his team's best player, acclaimed an outstanding performance by the Pacific Islanders.

He said: "I couldn't be more proud of the boys for their effort. It has been a great ride in this World Cup but the road stops here.

"We had great belief when we were 13-3 down because we knew we were finding holes in their defence . . . A few mistakes started to creep into South Africa's game and the boys were really bouncing, but they eventually punished us and really put pressure on our scrum."

Fiji did not receive the credit they deserved for defeating Wales but, whatever happens in the next two weeks, they will be one of the stories of this World Cup. Ask Jaque Fourie.

SOUTH AFRICA: P Montgomery; JP Pretorius, J Fourie, F Steyn, B Habana; B James, F Du Preez; O du Randt, J Smit (capt), J du Plessis; B Botha, V Matfield; S Burger, J Smith, D Rossouw.

Replacements: W van Heerden for Rossouw (50 mins); G Steenkamp for Du Randt (52 mins); J Muller for Botha (80 mins).

FIJI: N Ligairi; V Delasau, K Ratuvou, S Rabeni, S Bobo; S Bai, M Rauluni (capt); G Dewes, S Koto, H Qiodravu; K Leawere, I Rawaqa; S Naevo, A Qera, S Koyamaibole.

Replacements: J Railomo for Qiodravu (55 mins); G Lovobalavu for Ratuvou (68 mins); B Gadolo for Koto, A Ratuva for Qera (both 78 mins); W Lewaravu, for Leawere (80 mins).

Referee: A Lewis (Ireland).