Powerful Springboks Beat Battling Wales

By Helen ‘Helzbach’ Davies

An enormous roar drowned out the pyrotechnics as the teams took to the Millennium Stadium pitch for the first of Wales’ Autumn Internationals. Minutes later, silence descended as a mark of respect on this Remembrance weekend.

As is typical before International matches, the resounding singing of the anthems created an electric atmosphere before the smiling referee, Alain Rolland, received a fitting ‘welcome to Wales’ as the crowd reminded him that he is not exactly the most popular man in the valleys with a communal booing!

Promising to start strongly and not to be left chasing the game, Wales kept their word. A strong run from Scarlet Jonathan Davies resulted in a kickable penalty offering Leigh Halfpenny the chance to put points on the board early on.

Recently crowned Best Test Player in the World in Paris, Halfpenny made no mistake in giving the home side a 3 point to 0 lead with a matter of minutes on the clock.

Almost immediatelythe South Africans equalised the score at 3 points each with a well taken penalty from Outside Half Morné Steyn.

It was almost a case of déjà vu when Jon Davies again broke out of midfield and Halfpenny again kicked the penalty to give the Welsh a 6 point to 3 advantage.

Despite the strong start, Wales suffered a double blow. Flying Wing Habana outpaced George North, setting up the platform for Captain Jean de Villiers to cross the white wash for the first try of the evening. Steyn added the conversion to give the Boks a 6 point to 10 lead.

Scarlets supporters in particular were devastated to see Club Captain Jon Davies permanently leave the field with a shoulder injury along with Liam Davies who suffered mild concussion in the tackle.

The power of the Boks was incredible, driving forward through the Welsh defence with Vice Captain Bismarck du Plessis emulating the feat of his Captain by scoring a try of his own with just over quarter of another on the clock. Steyn again added the conversion to increase his team’s lead to 6 points to 17, before making his way off the pitch causing the South Africans to re-shuffle.

Leigh Halfpenny kicked his third successive penalty to keep the Welsh team in touching distance of the Springboks and bring themwithin 8 points – 9 points to 17.

With added confidence, suddenly the Welsh found themselves back in possession and working their way through the phases, inching ever closer to the Springbok 22. Unfortunately play was slow and lateral with no real ground being made and the injury list increased further as Prop Adam Jones gingerly left the field with what appeared to be a leg injury.

Leigh Halfpenny was offered the opportunity to further decrease the Springbok lead with a tricky penalty from the touch line. He made no mistake in continuing with his 100% record and despite South Africa scoring 2 tries; just 5 points separated the teams – 12 point to 17.

The intervention of the TMO and subsequent sin binning of Francois Louw resulted in the home team finishing an explosive first half of rugby with an extra man. However, they were unable to take advantage from the penalty.

The second half continued in much the same fashion as the first, though Warren Gatland could possibly be the happier of the two coaches. Wales kept possession and recycled the ball well, forcing the Springboks to make the tackles. The Springboks are a powerful team but not renown for being particularly fit, whereas the Welsh team always seem to finish strongly.

It took quarter of an hour before any points were scored in the second half, with that man Halfpenny kicking five penalties out of five to close the gap to just 2 points – 15 points to 17.

Both sides found themselves down to 14 men following numerous warnings from referee Rolland however confusion reigned as injury struck Wales didn’t have a fit Prop to make up the Front Row and the forwards were offered a scrummage rest due to uncontested scrums.

South Africa had two opportunities to extend their lead but Pat Lambie was short with both his Drop Goal and his Penalty efforts.

Unfortunately, the Springboks did soon extend their lead. Following miscommunication from the Welsh team, Fourie du Preez crossed for the third try of the evening for the Boks. Typically, Rolland allowed the try without checking with the TMO as footage clearly showed off-side play in the build-up. Lambie made up for his earlier misses and his conversion increased the South African lead to crucially 2 scores – 15 points to 24.

A break out of his own 22 from Sam Warburton, supported by Scott Williams and Justin Tipuric had the crowd on the edge of their seats as the try line beckoned. However, Wales’ best chance to score a try in the game by far hardly tested the physicality of the Springboks’ defence.

Despite all the hope before the game that Gatland’s men had the capability to win all four of the Autumn Internationals, once again Wales found themselves beaten despite a huge effort from all the players. Final score – Wales 15 – South Africa 24.