South Africa power their way into Classic final

Fans were entertained by two thrilling matches at the World Rugby Classic on Wednesday.

South Africa, using defensive power and resilience, booked a trip to the finals by humbling the Classic Lions.

The Boks spent most of the last quarter of the game under the cosh but they repelled one Lions attack after another.

The game had started well for the Lions with Welsh wing Dafydd James crashing over for the first try.

The South Africans hit back after a delightful break from veteran centre Robbie Flek put Wim Meyer over the whitewash just a few minutes later.

A Shane Byrne try just before half-time put the Lions into the lead at the break.

But it was the Boks who made the solitary and ultimately decisive try in the second half — taking advantage of a wayward clearance kick from the Lions.

The Classic Lions piled on the pressure as the clock counted down — but they could not cross the line and were left rueing a missed conversion which turned out to be the difference between the sides at the final whistle as South Africa won 14 to 12.

The U.S. Eagles marched into the final of the plate competition after coming out on top in a pulsating game with the Canadians.

The popular American team was behind for most of the match but wrestled control of the game from their northern neighbours in the dying minutes.

The sides traded tries within the first five minutes – with U.S. flier Mike Harvey going over for his second try of the tournament.

Canada led 17-7 at the break but the Americans came at their opponents hard in the second half.

They picked up the momentum with a string of surging drives from their pack, led by their irrepressible number 8.

And they reaped their rewards with two unanswered scores — the clinching try coming just minutes before the final whistle as they ran out 21 to 17 winners.