South Africa 18-20 New Zealand PLAYER RATINGS: Richie McCaw and Ma'a Nonu among the stars as All Blacks reach Rugby World Cup final in narrow win

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New Zealand made it to the Rugby World Cup final with victory over South Africa at Twickenham on Saturday.

A close semi-final between the teams saw the All Blacks come out on top after a try apiece from Jerome Kaino and Beauden Barret.

Sportsmail’s Nik Simon was at Twickenham to rate both sets of players.

New Zealand made it to the Rugby World Cup final with a 20-18 victory over South Africa at Twickenham

SOUTH AFRICA

Willie le Roux 7

Identified as a potential weakness under the high ball but generally stood firm under the All Blacks’ targeted kicks.

JP Pietersen 7

Sucked in for Barrett’s second-half try, having almost broke away for an intercept try in the first half

Jesse Kriel 6

Tested the ageing All Blacks midfield early on, getting around Nonu, but impact faded during the game.

Damian De Allende 6

Carried out his defensive duties against the experienced All Blacks midfield but limited edge in attack.

Damian de Allende of South Africa is tackled by Aaron Smith of New Zealand at Twickenham

Bryan Habana 7

Dominated the battle of the skies with some sublime kick-chases before a cheap yellow card in the second half. One try away from Jonah Lomu’s record.

Handre Pollard 8

Showed exceptional composure from the tee with five out of five penalties, and largely brought down his man when targeted in attack.

Fourie du Preez 7

Caught out a couple of times at the ruck but delivered good hang time on his kicks to help Boks’ exit strategy.

Tendai Mtawarira 7

Limited chants of ‘The Beast’ as the front-row struggled to get his hands on the ball, but performed well at the scrum.

Bismarck du Plessis 6

Missed talisman Victor Matfield in the first-half as line-out struggled to fire, only hitting 75 per cent of his throws.

South Africa's Handre Pollard kicked five penalties during their Rugby World Cup semi-final defeat

Frans Malherbe 8

Justified his continued selection over Jannie du Plessis with a scrum penalty, adding his weight to the effective driving maul.

Eben Etzebeth 8

Topped the tackle count for the majority of the game and played a prominent role in the choke tackle strategy.

Lood de Jager 6

Brushed off by Jerome Kaino for New Zealand’s sixth minute try – not what you expect from an 18st13lb lock.

Francois Louw 8

Kept his side ahead during the first half with magnificent breakdown work and did his fair share of work in defence.

Referee Jerome Garces speaks with South Africa captain Fourie du Preez during the tie

Duane Vermeulen 7

Provided go forward ball from the base of the scrum even when the South African pack was being marched backwards.

Schalk Burger 7

Continued to pop up regularly at first receiver, defying his years to chase the breakdown for 64 minutes.

SUBS

Adriaan Strauss (for Du Plessis 52) 6

Trevor Nyakane (for Mtawarira 52) 6

Jannie du Plessis (for Malherbe 60) 7

Victor Matfield (for Du Plessis 60) 6

Willem Alberts (for Burger 64) 6

Ruan Pienaar

Pat Lambie (for Pollard 65) 7

Jan Serfontein (for De Allende 80) 

Lood de Jager pictured after South Africa's defeat as they were knocked out of the Rugby World Cup

NEW ZEALAND

Ben Smith 8

Troubled with Springboks with his up-and-unders, showing a fall armoury of skills in attack.

Nehe Milner-Skudder 7

Wet conditions not ideal for the nimble winger, who often came out second best to Habana in the aerial duel but made good yards.

Conrad Smith 7

Nothing flash but showed subtle handling skills to bring in the All Blacks’ wide men.

Ma'a Nonu 8

Exploited for pace by Kriel early on, but showed a range of skills in attack through kicking, footwork and power.

Ma'a Nonu pictured during New Zealand's Rugby World Cup semi-final win over South Africa

Julian Savea 7

Failed to gather a dangerous grubber kick in the 50th minute and was marshalled well by the South African defence, who tackled low.

Dan Carter 7

Often coughed up possession by putting boot to ball, but kept his side in the game during Kaino’s 10-minute sin-bin with a drop goal

Aaron Smith 7

Pressurised Du Preez at the breakdown to prevent quick ball but was guilty of some questionable clearance kicks.

Joe Moody 6

Former world championship wrestler coughed up territory when he was penalised for a neck roll.

Jerome Kaino breaks clear to score the opening try of their Rugby World Cup semi-final victory

Dane Coles 8

Hit his targets at the line-out and showed around the park why he is regarded as one of the world’s most athletic front-rows.

Owen Franks 6

Came under heavy pressure at the scrum during the first half, before coming off after 52 minutes.

Brodie Retallick 7

Carried most out of the All Blacks forwards, consistently making small yards around the fringes with his physical edge.

Sam Whitelock 7

Turned over by South Africa’s choke tackle system, but grafted in the tight and a voice of authority in the huddles.

Jerome Kaino 6

Took sixth minute try well but sin-binned just before half time for cynically kicking the ball from and offside position.

Richie McCaw of New Zealand eyes the ball during their Rugby World Cup semi-final victory

Kieran Read 6

Conceded some costly penalties that undermined the former world player of the year’s work in the loose.

Richie McCaw 8

Not given too much change by Jerome Garces but his second-half turnover helped swing momentum in favour of the world champions.

SUBS

Keven Mealamu (for Coles 67) 7

Ben Franks

Charlie Faumuina (for Franks 52) 6

Victor Vito

Sam Cane (for Kaino 67) 5

Tawera Kerr-Barlow

Beauden Barrett (on for Milner-Skudder 49) 7

Sonny Bill Williams (for Nonu 52) 7 

New Zealand's Beauden Barrett scores a try in the second half of the semi-final win for the All Blacks