South Africa head coach Jacques Nienaber brutally substituted his own flyhalf Manie Libbok after just half an hour of their World Cup semi-final clash with England. Libbok’s kicking was off the mark as England stormed into a 9-3 lead.

And Nienaber clearly pinned the blame on Libbok by embarrassing him and dragging him off early. Moments after sending a kick horribly past the posts, Handre Pollard was introduced in his place.

Former South Africa winger Bryan Habana was not impressed with the decision and slammed his national team manager. He told itv: “It is not just the kicking. We have had instances of our line-out ball not working. We’ve had instances of England beating us at the breakdowns.

“Ultimately Manie has copped a bit of flak but it is a knee-jerk reaction to a guy who has really put his body on the line for South Africa this past six or seven weeks.

“If the forwards don’t step up, even a World Cup winner like Andrew Pollard can’t get that going. Unlucky for Manie but England are in the ascendancy. They are ruthless in the defence and attack and it is pretty impressive.”

Meanwhile, Owen Farrell’s kicking was on point and he scored four penalties to fire England 12-6 ahead. However, the skipper frequently lost his cool with the referee in the first half and Johnny Wilkinson feared that could cost his side.

“Those penalties are such a doorway into huge territory and huge momentum swings. Without those this half would have been even different,” he said.

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“That physically and that intensity, we have got to be aware that South Africa are not going to take this lying down. Straight after half-time they are coming back.

“There is an opportunity here for England to restart this half and just maintain that smothering effect that they’re having but it has taken a huge amount out of them.”

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