The ‘curse of the champions’ struck again at the World Cup yesterday as holders South Africa bowed out following a gruelling quarter-final defeat by Australia.

The Wallabies’ 11-9 win in Wellington saw them set up a semi-final clash against old rivals New Zealand after the tournament hosts were made to work hard before defeating Argentina 33-10 in Auckland.

There were casualties of different sorts for victors and vanquished, with the All Blacks, already without playmaker Dan Carter, seeing the fly-half’s replacement Colin Slade limp off with a leg injury early on against the Pumas.

And full-back Mils Muliaina’s achievement in becoming only the second All Black to play 100 Tests for New Zealand was overshadowed by a shoulder injury the full-back suffered at Eden Park.

Meanwhile, South Africa’s de-feat saw outspoken coach Peter de Villiers announce his resignation and Springbok captain John Smit confirm his Test retirement.

“It was a brilliant journey,” said de Villiers, South Africa’s first black coach, who took over from Jake White following the Springboks’ 2007 World Cup win.

“There’s a time to come and a time to go and I think the journey for me is over,” he added.

The World Cup ‘curse’ that means no side has yet to win back-to-back titles held firm as the Springboks dominated territory and possession only for Wallaby captain James Horwill to score the lone try of an attrition contest.

Smit lifted the Webb Ellis Trophy in Paris four years ago but there was no fairtytale finish for the hooker as defeat brought the curtain down on his seven-year stint as captain.

“It’s the first time I’ve lost a game on the scoreboard but won everything else from a stats point of view,” Smit said.

“That makes it even harder to accept.”

Stereotypes have it that the southern hemisphere game is all about ‘running rugby’ and plenty of tries, while up in Europe it’s all a question of set-piece ‘grind’ – or ‘proper’ rugby as some northern fans like to call it.

But those cliches were turned on their head after a weekend of quarter-final action that started in spectacular fashion on Saturday with Wales’s vibrant 22-10 win over Ireland before France, as they’ve done so often, made a mockery of the formbook in a 19-12 defeat of England where they raced into a 16-0 lead.

The draw means Six Nations rivals France and Wales will face-off at Eden Park in the first semi-final on Saturday before, 24 hours later, the Auckland ground stages the latest All Black-Wallaby encounter.

Australia coach Robbie Deans said his his team had “come of age” in an “epic” match where Wallaby flanker David Pocock forced numerous turnovers.

“The boys came of age in the way they accepted that challenge and stood up to it,” Deans, who will be coaching against his native New Zealand next weekend, said.

“You saw an epic World Cup encounter,” the former All Black added.

“It was different... but that’s part of the contest, it’s not just the perceived beautiful things that you see in the game.”

Pumas’ effort

Only the most loyal of Argentina fans expected anything other than an All Black win yesterday.

But while the final scoreline was comfortable enough, the Pumas were still in sight of their much-vaunted opponents until late tries from forwards Kieran Read and Brad Thorn saw the All Blacks pull away.

“I think it’s what we expected,” said New Zealand captain Richie McCaw, who just pipped Muliaina to the 100-cap mark earlier in the tournament.

“If we kept chipping away, we knew we would get the chances. They (Argentina) are a team that attack the breakdown well and they slowed up our ball a wee bit in the first half.

“That was one of the big improvements in the second half, we got some quick ball,” the flanker added.

Argentina failed to improve on their third-place finish at the 2007 World Cup but skipper Felipe Contepomi said the Pumas had reason for optimism as a result of their inclusion next year in an expanded Four Nations.

“I’m looking forward to the future of Argentinian rugby because I think in the long-term it will grow and I think it will be great.”

Semi-finals (all at Eden Park)
October 15: Wales vs France.
October 16: New Zealand vs Australia.
Final (Eden Park): October 23.

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