Boks destroy Wales in Cardiff

REPORT: The Springboks will head into their next World Cup warm-up match against the All Blacks with some momentum after they hammered Wales 52-16 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on Saturday.

The visitors got eight tries in the match with Canan Moodie and Jesse Kriel both getting a brace.

What will be promising for the Bok coaches was the performance of captain Siya Kolisi.

It was his first outing for the Boks this season after making his way back from a knee injury and he was one of the star performers in the first half before he was replaced.

The Springboks showed their class in the opening minutes with some sustained pressure and they were rewarded in the fourth minute when Malcolm Marx dived over the tryline after a neat offload from Kolisi.

Flyhalf Manie Libbok was unsuccessful with a difficult conversion.

The Welsh made it a two-point ball game in the ninth minute with a three-pointer from flyhalf Sam Costelow.

With a powerful pack, the Boks were getting the ascendancy in the scrums and Libbok had an opportunity to stretch his team's lead with a penalty in the 18th minute. However, he could not find the direction with his kick.

Instead, it was Wales who took the lead in the 21st minute with another Costelow penalty.

However, the Boks hit back immediately with another try. It all started with a great break from RG Snyman from a ruck and after a few more phases in the Welsh half, the ball was spread wide with fullback Willie le Roux giving the final pass to Canan Moodie who ran in for the score.

Libbok added the extra two points with the conversion.

Wales stayed in the fight and they reduced the Boks' lead to just three points in the 25th minute with another three points from Costelow.

However, the home side suffered a big blow in the 34th minute when wing Rio Dyer was yellow carded for deliberately knocking the ball into touch in a race with Canan Moodie towards the home side's tryline. The Boks also got a penalty try for that offence.

It then started to turn into a horror show for Wales shortly after the restart when Mason Grady raced back to his own tryline to collect a ball after a Damian de Allende grubber kick, only for the Welsh centre to throw the ball into the air which allowed Jesse Kriel to grab and score his team's fourth try.

It was more of the same in the opening minutes of the second half with Boks scoring their fifth try. The home side were looking dangerous in the Boks' 22 before Pieter-Steph du Toit intercepted a pass. The big flank showed some speed before he fed the ball to Kriel who ran away for his second try of the match.

It was that man Du Toit who got his team's next try after he powered through a few defenders from close range in the 59th minute. Not long after that Moodie was in for his second try after intercepting the ball in the middle of the park. Libbok converted all those scores

It was all falling apart for Wales after that and it was Damian Willemse's turn to score after collecting a wonderful pass from Libbok on his inside. The latter was on hand to add the extra two points with the conversion.

Willemse then received a yellow card, which was not upgraded to red after a review, for a head-to-head tackle on Dyer.

The Welsh made use of their man advantage with replacement hooker Sam Parry scoring a try in the corner with Cai Evans adding the conversion.

Man of the match: Captain Siya Kolisi showed how valuable he is with ball in hand with some strong carries and he provided the offload to Malcolm Marx for the game's opening try. Centre Jesse Kriel showed he is still an attacking threat out wide with some scathing runs and he scored two tries as well. However, the award goes to wing Canan Moodie. The youngster also scored two tries, but just showed a little more on attack as he beat several defenders. He also showed what an asset he is on defence with some great cover tackles.

The scorers:

For Wales:

Try: Parry

Con: Evans

Pens: Costelow 3

For South Africa:

Tries: Marx, Moodie 2, Penalty Try, Kriel 2, Du Toit, Willemse

Cons: Libbok 5

Yellow cards: Rio Dyer (Wales, 34' - cynical play, deliberately knocking the ball out of play); Teddy Williams (Wales, 67' - repeated infringements); Damian Willemse (South Africa, 71' - foul play, high tackle)

Teams:

Wales: 15 Cai Evans, 14 Tom Rogers, 13 Mason Grady, 12 Johnny Williams, 11 Rio Dyer, 10 Sam Costelow, 9 Kieran Hardy, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Jac Morgan (captain), 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Will Rowlands, 4 Ben Carter, 3 Keiron Assiratti, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Corey Domachowski.

Replacements: 16 Sam Parry, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Henry Thomas, 19 Teddy Williams, 20 Taine Basham, 21 Tomos Williams, 22 Max Llewellyn, 23 Louis Rees-Zammit.

South Africa: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Canan Moodie, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Cheslin Kolbe, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Jaden Hendrikse, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siyamthanda Kolisi (captain), 5 Rudolph Snyman, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Steven Kitshoff.

Replacements: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Ox Nche, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Franco Mostert, 20 Marco van Staden, 21 Duane Vermeulen, 22 Grant Williams, 23 Damian Willemse.

Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)

Assistant referees: Chris Busby (Ireland), Eoghan Cross (Ireland)

TMO: Joy Neville (Ireland)