On a weekend that supposedly inferior opposition have floored two northern hemisphere heavyweights, Fiji failed to make it a hat-trick of unlikely knockouts this afternoon but they gave South Africa an almighty fright.

The South Sea islanders even looked the most likely victors when they drew level with an hour played and, by repeatedly breaking the Springboks' defence, will have given much hope to those sides watching with hopes of lifting the World Cup.

South Africa won 37-20 but will know that they will need to improve should they justify their newfound status of World Cup favourites, a tag given to them following the elimination of New Zealand and Australia yesterday. No surprise that afterwards John Smit, the winning captain, admitted, “There was a time when I thought, ‘Let's not make this a weekend of upsets.’”

The early exchanges suggested a one-sided contest lay ahead as a Francois Steyn penalty and a try from Jacqui Fourie gave South Africa a lead they retained until half-time and the Fijian pack struggled in the loose.

The Springboks, however, did not capitalise on the advantage and, having struggled against the islanders' improvised approach to open play, only made the game safe with two tries in the final ten minutes.

That followed a brilliant passage of play from Fiji when, despite having the influential Seru Rabeni sin-binned, posted the best two tries of the match in two incredible minutes.

With his side trailing 13 points, Vilimone Delasau scored the first with an exposition of his turf-burning speed on the wing. Collecting the ball near the halfway line he thumped it over Fourie du Preez, sprinted past both the scrum-half and Percy Montgomery and placed hand to ball as it bounced awkwardly in the endzone.

Mosese Raulini, the scrum-half whose sniping runs troubled South Africa all afternoon, set up the second by evading du Preez at a maul and slipping a pass to Sereli Bobo in the tackle. The winger rolled over the line to draw his side level and ignite dreams of an incredible victory.

However, to the disappointment of England fans hoping to see another potential winner knocked out, South Africa then withstood sustained Fiji pressure with - at last - the kind of defence that has long underpinned their game.

Their momentum lost, Fiji wilted quickly and conceded two tries in the final ten minutes that gave South Africa a win they deserved, if only for the dominance of their forwards. For, not only did the Springboks pack frequently outmanoeuvre their less organised Fijian counterparts in the ruck and maul, but they could also claim credit for three of their side's four tries.

For the first they retained possession in front of the Fiji posts before an excellent mispass from du Preez set up Fourie in the corner. For the second Smit emerged from a rolling maul that carved apart the Fijian defence while Butch James, the fly half, scored the third after his pack had kept Fiji rooted on their try line.

Add to that the try that JP Pietersen scored beneath the posts after Steyn had disrupted a promising Fiji attack and the scoreline had a glean that flattered the victors. As Smit admitted afterwards, his side’s defence must sharpen up. "They certainly came at us and we certainly didn't defend as well as we should have," he said. “It was a tough quarter-final.”

Rauluni, the Fiji captain, was rightly proud of his team’s performance. "All I asked from the boys was to give it their all and they did," he said.