South Africa beat Wales 19-16 reach into Rugby World Cup final 2019.
The first half was a war of attrition, three Pollard penalties giving the Springboks a 9-6 lead as they sought to overpower Wales up front and kick them into submission.
Dan Biggar dragged Wales level with a penalty early in the second half, but then Damian de Allende burst through the Welsh defensive line to put South Africa 16-9 ahead.
Wales sensed they had to go for broke and, after boldly opting for a scrum rather than a penalty in front of the posts against their hulking opponents, they worked the ball wide for Josh Adams to dive over for a converted try that made it 16-16.
What Next...?
While South Africa can look forward to a final against England here in Yokohama next Saturday, Gatland's final game as Wales head coach will be the third-place play-off against his native New Zealand in Tokyo on Friday.
Rugby World Cup semi-final: Wales 16-19 South Africa, Stats, records.
South Africa have knocked Wales out of the Rugby World Cup in consecutive tournaments, reaching their third Rugby World Cup final (1995, 2007).
That was the first time at the 2019 Rugby World Cup that Handre Pollard had managed a 100% goal kicking rate from the tee.
Apart from a 22-20 win over an experimental South Africa side (13 debutants) in Washington in 2018, Wales have still not beaten South Africa outside of Cardiff.
Josh Adams is now the outright top try scorer at the 2019 Rugby World Cup, his haul of six tries is the joint most a player has managed for Wales in an edition of the tournament (Shane Williams 6 in 2007).
Wales made 39 kicks from hand in the game, the most they had made in a Rugby World Cup game since 1991 v Argentina (48); South Africa also made 39 kicks, their most since the 2007 final vs England (48).
South Africa averaged 4 metres per carry in this match, whilst Wales could only average 1.7 metres per carry
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