Springboks captain Siya Kolisi and his team have thanked South Africans for their support in a video taken in their locker room in Yokohama, Japan.
"We just want to say thank you so much for your support. It really means a lot to us. We gave our best today for you and please one more week to go, six more days... Keep on supporting us and send the messages. We appreciate it," Kolisi said with his team in the shot.
The team's 19-16, Rugby World Cup semi-final victory over Wales at the Yokohama International Stadium on Sunday earned the Springboks a repeat of that 2007 final with a showdown against England back at Yokohama on Saturday.
The match will be attended by President Cyril Ramaphosa, who made a good luck video call to Kolisi on Saturday.
“It was really special for him to take time out to wish us luck and not only from him but from all the people in South Africa,” Kolisi said, accprding to the Springboks website.
“We get all the messages from South Africa and it is really special to see how the people at home have bought into what we are doing here and how they are supporting us.”
Kolisi also paid tribute to Rassie Erasmus.
“The coach gave me my first contract when I was 18 and he has coached a lot of the guys at different times,” he said.
“He knows us, and we bought into his plan. As soon as he came, he made it clear that the most important thing was the Springbok, whereas in the past we tried to build ourselves through social media or whatever.
“He just brought us back to earth and told us that we have to play well first and then everything else would come. It’s awesome to see it come together as it has and to be in the final will mean a lot for us.”