For the second week running South Africa saw off an opponent at the rugby union World Cup by a solitary point. Last Sunday evening at the Stade de France, the defending champions held off France's late flurry to reach the semi-final. And on Saturday night at the same venue, they racked up 10 points from a converted try and a penalty in the last 11 minutes to beat England 16-15 and advance to a fourth final.
"England had an amazing game plan which we took too long to adapt to," said South Africa skipper Siya Kolisi.
"The thing that I take out of this game is the fact that we're able to dig deep and fight to get that victory. And we we're so grateful that we can be in a position to defend the the cup again.
"I know a lot of teams wouldn't be able to get out of that and get a win like that."
England's intention to avoid the running game was obvious from the outset. Scrum-half Alex Mitchell repeatedly opted to miss out his three-quarter line to kick high and bank on retrieving the ball from dropped catches in the driving rain.
Not the prettiest of ploys but effective.
England skipper Owen Farrell converted two penalties in the early skirmishes against a South Africa team who had supplanted Ireland as number one in the world rankings following their victory over France and Ireland's defeat to New Zealand in the quarter-finals.
But they belied their new status. Fly-half Manie Libbok embodied the diffidence - unsure whether to match England's ugliness or impose a running game. His fragility infected his teammates.
"I have to pay a lot of credit to England," said South Africa coach Jacques Nienaber.
"I thought they were outstanding. They had a very good tactical plan and they really put us under a lot of pressure.
"It took us some time to get to grips with it."
South Africa eventually opened their account after 20 minutes with the game's third penalty.
Libbok struck confidently to bring his side to 6-3 but 10 minutes later he was substituted.
Change
"It's for South Africa," Nienaber explained. "It's not for the individual. It's not for the ego. The Springboks are more important than anything else."
Handré Pollard, who kicked 22 points during the 32-12 victory over England in the final in Yokohama four years ago, replaced him.
His first contribution was to convert a penalty to counter six more points from Farrell's boot and reduce England's lead to 12-6.
And though Farrell's drop goal 12 minutes into the second-half extended the advantage to 15-6, his side fluffed a golden chance just before the hour mark on the left wing to push for a try from a line-out.
South Africa survived and Pollard took over.
His pitch perfect kick for touch led to RG Snyman's try in the 68th minute which he converted to reduce England's lead to 15-13.
And three minutes from time, he smacked over a penalty to nudge his side ahead for the first time in the match.
Certainty
"I had no doubts that Handré would score," said Kolisi.
Pollard's panache ended the unlikeliest of surges. Before the tournament, England had won only two of their nine games in 2023.
In France, they were victorious in all four of the their pool matches and beat Fiji in the last eight.
Next Friday, they will take on Argentina for third place while the much hyped Irish and French teams lick their wounds.
"The players are disappointed," said England boss Steve Borthwick. "But I am unbelievably proud of what this this group has done over the past five months together.
"To build up to a performance like we had and ultimately to come up short to a great team like South Africa is a huge achievement."
South Africa will face New Zealand next Saturday night at the Stade de France to vie for the Webb Ellis trophy.
Both sides will compete for a record fourth title.
