The Springboks seem to enjoy making their fans nervous when it comes to playing a 3 match series at home. Much like the 2-1 series win over the British and Irish Lions in 2021, it came down to the last game to decide who would be the victor between South Africa and a touring Wales side that were given little to no hope of winning before the series began.
The first test saw South Africa winning by the narrowest of margins as utility back Damian Willemse slotted a last minute penalty in front of a capacity Loftus Versfeld crowd, giving the Boks a 32-29 win.
The second game of the series saw 14 wholesale changes from Bok coach Jacques Nienaber, who awarded 6 new caps in a what most would consider to be a young, experimental Springbok ‘B’ team. This was clearly a long-term tactical decision, designed to test the depth of the Bok squad and possibly unearth some new talent as the Boks prepare for the Rugby Championship in less than a month’s time, and the World Cup next year. The short-term ramifications of this rejig however, resulted in a tied series and a 13-12 victory to Wales, who overcame some dodgy decision making to down the Boks “B’s”.
That meant all eyes were on Cape Town on Saturday for the series decider.
Nienaber chose what seems to be his strongest side in an attempt to recover the series and ensure that Wales didn’t make history again on tour, with their victory in Bloemfontein being the first victory on South African soil. Nienaber’s pack consisted of two titans of Bok rugby, Eben Etzebeth and Bongi Mbonambi, who celebrated their 100th and 50th caps respectively and led the boys in green and gold out onto the pitch for what turned out to be a great test match between a Bok side that’s hardly at their best, and a Wales side that was greedy for a win they thought they’d never be in contention for in the first place.
South Africa 30 – Wales 14
As the final whistle rang out across Greenpoint Stadium the Springboks successfully ended Wales’ dream of a Test series triumph by winning the decider 30-14 in front of a packed stadium in central Cape Town.
Springboks head coach, Jacques Nienaber, put the Bok’s best foot forward by recalling 8 test-hardened players to the team, all of whom had taken part in the World Cup-winning campaign. The experienced players seemed to make the difference as Handré Pollard, Bongi Mbonambi, and Siya Kolisi all crossed the whitewash to record impressive tries, while Pollard made up for a poor showing in Bloemfontein to successfully convert all three tries and add three penalties for a personal haul of 20 points.
The sole Tommy Reffell try – with an additional three penalties slotted by captain on the night Dan Biggar – belies the effort Wales put in but they were relegated to putting in the big hits in a fiery and resolute defensive display rather than show their flair on attack.
The North seems to be rising!
The result put a damper on the Northern Hemisphere’s celebrations as Ireland scored an historic series victory over New Zealand and England overcame stiff resistance to record a series win in Australia.
Wales would have gone into this series looking to get an indication of where they sit in preparation for next year’s rugby showcase, the World Cup in France. While their series display may leave more questions than answers, one aspect of the Dragons’ play they will put a huge tick beside is their defence. Not many teams can claim to be able to successfully nullify the Boks’ rolling maul, a huge weapon in the Green and Gold arsenal.
The late withdrawal of talismanic Taulupe Faletau certainly did not help the Welsh cause as replacement Josh Navidi, while being an able and competent No. 8, lacked the big impact of the British and Irish Lions player.
The number 8 berth seemed to be hit and miss for the Springboks as well with their most recent option, Jasper Wiese, also not making the desired impact and being replaced after just 35 minutes. Wiese is not the only player to be in the spotlight though. Pieter Steph du Toit, a World Rugby Player of the Year winner, also seems to be a little off the boil, while Siya Kolisi appears to be focusing on crashing into rucks rather than his usual excellence at chasing and turnovers. Which left all that breakdown work to Wiese. Who didn’t really step up to the task.
His replacement by Kwagga Smith was a bit of a masterstroke though. For all the SA focus on ‘big’ loosies to dominate the breakdowns, a habit that goes back to players like Heinrich Brussouw being overlooked because they are too ‘small’, it’s glorious to watch as the dedication, talent, energy, and above all, never-say-die attitude of players like Kwagga is let loose. Smith was in the thick of things straight away like a farm dog that’s been kept in the house for the whole weekend and suddenly given free rein on the field.
But the problems for the Welsh kept stacking up as Gareth Anscombe was forced to withdraw just before kick-off to be replaced by Rhys Patchell. Added to Josh Adams taking over from the injured Alex Cuthbert and the Welsh looked to be going into the game with a severely weakened team on the cards.
And they almost fell behind in the fourth minute.
A deft kick from centre Lukhanyo Am was gathered by wing Makazole Mapimpi who was over the Welsh line, only to be denied by the eagle eye of the TMO as his left foot was in touch. An early sign of the vision of Am and the handling, and scoring, skills of Mapimps.
South African fans were starting to buzz.
A penalty to Pollard and then Damian Willemse and Damian de Allende both almost getting their names on the scorecard, with only the ref’s wording denying de Allende a well-earned try. If the on-field decision went the other way, there was no conclusive evidence to say that it wasn’t a try, however, that’s not how it went down.
Relentless pressure and a quick snipe put Pollard over the whitewash, a score he happily converted.
Reffell claimed his first Test try following strong work by Adams and George North, a passage of play that was made tricky by the slippery turf of the Cape Town stadium, conditions that made handling a challenge for both teams at times.
Wales’ Achilles heel resurfaced once again though as they found themselves on the wrong side of the ref’s penalty decision – giving away 8 in the first 25 minutes of the game. With ill-discipline like this it was rather surprising that the Boks only held a 10-5 lead, although this was mainly due to some odd (and frustrating for the fans) on-field decisions like kicking for touch when the points were on offer but kicking for posts when the game was pretty much over and tries could be had for some effort. There are times when this fan in particular wonders at the decisions made by coaches, leaders and players!
Wales woes were further compounded through the loss of flanker Dan Lydiate while iconic Springboks flier Cheslin Kolbe left the field with what appeared to be a serious injury.
A Biggar penalty brought some well-deserved relief to the Welsh but it was soon snuffed out when Bongi Mbonambi celebrated his 50th appearance by dotting down from the back of a rolling maul – one of the few that the players in red didn’t manage to stop.
17-8 to the Springboks and half-time was blown.
Dewi Lake and Sam Wainwright joined entered the fray for Wales in the second half, which saw Biggar knock over another penalty to bring the scores a little closer at 17-11.
And the Boks again replied with an almost try to probably-the-best-outside-centre-in-the-world Lukhanyo Am. The excellent play was, unfortunately, called back for what was deemed a forward pass by scrumhalf Jaden Hendrikse.
At 48 minutes Biggar took his third penalty of the game, again overshadowed by the South Africans crashing through five minutes later to score via captain Kolisi to put them ten points ahead at 24-14.
Two more Pollard penalties closed out the game and South Africa were left celebrating a winning send-off to their Rugby Championship aspirations.
A classic, bruising South Africa-Wales encounter that ultimately saw the boys in Green and Gold take the series win but has left a lot of questions as they go into the Rugby Championship and their first game against a dangerous New Zealand.
A lot to look forward to!