Now we know what lies at the end of the Rainbow Nation - a man with a golden boot.

Jannie de Beer shattered England's World Cup dreams yesterday with one of the greatest kicking displays the rugby world has ever seen.

The South African out-half kicked a world record five drop goals, blasted over five penalties and stroked two conversions to leave England dejected and demoralised - and out of the World Cup.

Those are the flawless statistics - de Beer didn't miss a kick all afternoon - which took South Africa deservedly through to an all-Southern Hemisphere semi-final, with Australia at Twickenham next weekend.

And for large parts of this tense and dramatic quarter-final in the magnificent Stade de France, England must have felt as though they were under attack from a mortar battery so precise and clinical was de Beer's precision kicking.

The 28-year-old Springbok racked up 34 points - an individual record for a South African.

In a match of relentless tension and remorseless physical conflict such composure and coolness was almost superhuman from a player who only returned to the Springbok fold this season after a two-year absence.

Oh, how England must have wished he had stayed away. But then, if England are honest with themselves, they were beaten by a better team - not just by a fantastic kicker.

Listening to England's fighting talk these past two years under Clive Woodward, and then watching them crash when the going gets really tough is becoming repetitive.

On the evidence of this match, England are still not sharp enough in terms of mental steel - still not capable of playing with enough sustained intensity - to break the iron will of the Southern Hemisphere when it really matters.

There was no lack of passion and courage from Martin Johnson, Lawrence Dallaglio, Neil Back and co. No shortage of hard graft and honest endeavour.

But the truth was that England never came close to breaching a solid South African defence. Centres Phil de Glanville and Will Greenwood were too ponderous in midfield, Paul Grayson not inventive enough at out-half and the England forwards not mobile enough to eclipse a side which has its own dream of emulating the Nelson Mandela-inspired team of 1995.

The Springboks are world champions and they are not going to give up their title lightly.

In truth it was a strange match which began cagily, with both sides kicking for position like two grand chess masters desperate not to make a false move.

The hits were shuddering, the forward confrontations were thunderous while fluent, flowing rugby was at a premium.

After half an hour England led 12-9 courtesy of four penalties by Paul Grayson to three by de Beer.

But, like a motor racing driver changing from the parade lap to the real race, the Springboks moved up a gear and it resulted in the first try of the match from Joost Van Der Westhuizen.

The South African captain is training for his pilot's licence and the way he flew up the left wing in the 37th minute it won't be long in coming.

Pieter Rossouw took a high ball and swept forward before feeding Springboks veteran centre Pieter Muller.

The England defence swarmed all around and when Muller got his pass away to Van Der Westhuizen it seemed the Springbok danger must be snuffed out.

But Van Der Westhuizen used his considerable sinewy strength to thrust out of the tackle from Will Greenwood and fend off the challenge of Richard Hill to put the ball down one-handed before being swept into the corner flag.

The euphoria with which the Springboks celebrated was testimony to the enormous release of tension.

De Beer followed that up with a fabulous conversion from the touch-line to send South Africa in with a 16-12 lead at the interval.

The second half, however, was barely one minute old when Grayson reduced the arrears to just one point with another penalty.

But, as the spiralling kicks probing position continued, it was South Africa's rapier-like thrusts which always looked most likely to put points on the scoreboard.

Enter de Beer for the first of his quite wonderfully-executed drop goals - four of which came from more than 40 metres and all of which must have seemed a sword thrust through the England heart. Grayson and de Beer again swapped penalties and at 25-18 down England were reeling.

They were desperate for fresh momentum and Woodward threw on Austin Healey for Nick Beal and 20-year-old out-half Jonny Wilkinson for Grayson, in a bid to rescue the game.

As if to underline the tide turning against England, Wilkinson's first act was to take a crucial penalty from the wrong side for a left-footer.

He missed, though he slotted over one from a slightly easier angle nine minutes later.

At 25-21 England were still in it, but then up stepped de Beer again to pick his spot with the cool and composed air of an executioner - not once, but twice.

In the 71st minute he received swift ball from the back of the scrum to plant his fourth drop goal between the posts.

And three minutes later came the biggest howitzer of all - a quite magnificent effort from 45 metres which had his Springbok team-mates doing high-fives in the middle of the pitch.

Two more penalties from de Beer and an injury-time try from Rossouw, converted by de Beer, gave South Africa a stunningly convincing victory and left England dejected and demoralised.