England scored a late converted try to beat South Africa 24-22 in the first semi-final of the World Rugby Under-20 Championship.
England No. 8 Zach Mercer barged through the Junior Boks' defence in the 77th minute of the clash to tie the scores between the two teams at 22-22. Flyhalf Max Milans then slotted the conversion to give England a two-point lead, which they managed to hold on to until the final whistle.
England will face New Zealand in the final, after the Junior All Blacks beat France 39-26 in the second semi-final.
England dominated the opening exchanges, and opened the scoring in the third minute when Mercer went over for his first try of the match, which Milans converted.
The Junior Boks, though, hit back in the 10th minute of the match when their barnstorming No. 8 Augustus Juarno Augustus crossed the line after flyhalf Curwin Bosch made the initial break.
England were back in the lead five minutes later. Malins broke the Junior Boks' line, before brilliantly offloading to scrumhalf Alex Mitchell, who showed good pace to score. Malins then extended England's led with the conversion and a penalty.
However, the Junior Boks fought back towards the end of the first half. Their forwards started to punch holes around the fringes and put the England defensive line under pressure.
They reduced the gap to just five points on the stroke of halftime when Augustus went over for his second try after some great play by his fellow forwards.
The Boks dominated much of the second half, and they put the England set piece under pressure and managed to get their fair share of ball to attack with.
The South Africans took the lead for the first time in the match in the 56th minute when lock Ruben van Heerden went over from close range, before Bosch added the extras for a two-point lead.
Bosch then kicked a penalty to give the Junior Boks a five-point lead with about seven minutes to go. However, the South Africans kicked a lot of balls away down the England back three's throats, while they also made a lot of unforced errors. Their lack of composure in the last 10 minutes of the match ultimately cost them.
This allowed England to run the ball back and put the Junior Boks under pressure.
England then managed to get into the South Africans' 22, before Mercer showed his strength and determination to beat a couple of defenders and score what proved to be the deciding try of the match.