South Africa 43-0 Wales: The Bobokokos will win with seven tries in Durban despite making mistakes | Rugby Union News
Wales failed to get a single point against South Africa as the Springboks won 43-0 in Durban.
South Africa won their previous match 73-0 in November when Wales, without players based in England and France in a Test played outside the official World Rugby window, won 11 tries and suffered a heavy home defeat.
The world champions were nowhere near as ruthless at home, but they still scored seven tries with Jasper Wiese, Cobus Reinach, Jesse Kriel, Jaco Williams, Herschel Jantjies, Kurt-Lee Arendse and Paul de Villiers crossing.
This was the Springboks’ 11th win in a row and their third in the Nations Championship after victories over England and Scotland put them top of the Southern Section.
The writing was on the wall during the opening exchanges as Wales collapsed in the same way they did to Argentina last week.
Wiese broke through within five minutes and the Springboks quickly set up another attacking position as the Welsh scrum retreated at a furious pace.
Reinach raced down the right from another powerful scrum and Moyo got his second conversion to settle his early nerves.
The game was played almost entirely in Wales’ half, but handling errors in the greasy conditions allowed the visitors to break away.
Wales defended well to avoid another penalty before the break but the Springboks extended their lead with the last play of the first half.
The forwards went through the paces before Moyo sent the ball curling in for a corner, and Jaco Williams beat Tomos who knocked the ball down for Kriel to score.
Scrum-half Cobus Reinach grabbed South Africa’s second try
South Africa got their bonus point within 40 seconds of the restart as Jaco Williams capitalized on a poor Wales kick to race into the lead on his debut.
Mee almost got to the line as Wales enjoyed their best moment, but scoring again proved difficult and normal service resumed when Jaco Williams sped down to find Jantjies waiting inside.
Wales suffered another setback when substitute Ben Warren was shown a yellow card and sent to the sin bin after a TMO review found his shot high on Marco van Staden.
South Africa inevitably used the advantage of numbers as Arendse and De Villiers’ first Test put Wales out of their misery.
Jaco Williams scored the fourth try for South Africa in his Test debut
‘What it means to play for Wales’
Wales coach, Steve Tandy, speaking after the match:
“It’s not the points we’re looking for. I’m proud of the team and the effort they’ve shown. There’s a lot of young lads who’ve shown fight and what it means to play for Wales.
“We weren’t clinical or we weren’t accurate enough in terms of where we could get on the board. When South Africa conceded five penalties in a row, we could have taken our time and squeezed them.
“But it shows at this level how far we have to go; you have to behave in the right way and how precise you are when you face a team like South Africa.”
“There is growth in all areas – physically, intellectually – for us, but I believe in this team and growth. This experience is painful, but we have to learn from it.”
Wales have conceded 116 not out in two Tests against South Africa
‘Big difference’ – The Lake is proud of the ‘growth’ of Wales
Wales captain Dewi Lake, speaking after the match:
“South Africa is the best team, the number 1 team in the world. For us, in terms of moving on from that, and in other parts, we did.
“Our growth is to maintain that every 80 minutes and in all aspects of the game.
“This team has increased in strength, you have seen the success we have achieved in the last six months, we will be better.
“The boys put their hearts on their sleeves every time, there was no lack of effort. Our discipline was lacking tonight, and we weren’t consistent enough with our bodies.”
