Bumbling Boks fight back to edge Wales at the death
MATCH REPORT: Fullback Damian Willemse slotted a penalty after the full-time hooter sounded to give the Springboks a narrow 32-29 win over Wales on Saturday in Pretoria.
The hotly fancied Springboks, who trailed by 15 points after a woeful first-half performance, took full advantage of Welsh ill-discipline to snatch victory.
Wales, nine places below top-ranked South Africa, were reduced to 12 men at one point in the closing stages due to yellow cards and finished with 13 men.
Captain and flyhalf Dan Biggar was sin-binned late in the opening half and Alun Wyn Jones, two-try star Louis Rees-Zammit and Rhys Carre later suffered similar fates.
After a penalty try gave South Africa a 29-24 lead on 75 minutes, Wales hit back with hooker Dewi Lake barging over for a try to level the scores, but Biggar saw his conversion veer just right of the post.
Biggar was then penalised for a deliberate knock-on and Willemse, who started at fullback and moved to flyhalf at half-time, held his nerve to steer the ball between the posts.
The tourists began impressively and were ahead within 131 seconds when the pace of Rees-Zammit earned him a try in the corner to the surprise of most in the near-capacity 51,762 crowd at Loftus Versfeld.
Wales stole a line-out, moved the ball speedily across the field to the winger and no Springbok came close to catching him.
Biggar missed the conversion, but atoned on nine minutes when he scored a drop goal for an eight-point advantage.
Jantjies ditched
Rival playmaker Elton Jantjies missed his first penalty attempt, which hit both posts, before coming back into play, then converted his second for the only South African points of the opening half.
Biggar slotted a penalty for an 11-3 advantage, and Jantjies missed again with his third effort.
Gloucester's Rees-Zammit struck again on 32 minutes after Jantjies and captain Siya Kolisi failed to control a loose ball after a line-out and the winger raced through to score a try that Biggar converted.
Wales were temporarily reduced to 14 men close to half-time when Biggar was sin-binned for a professional foul, but the tourists defended stoutly for a shock 18-3 lead at the break.
South Africa ditched off-form Jantjies at half-time, bringing on veteran Willie le Roux at fullback and switching Willemse to the playmaker role.
Push-over tries by hooker Bongi Mbonambi and his replacement, Malcolm Marx, one of which Willemse converted, narrowed the gap to three points.
But Wales did not panic, forced South Africa into errors and two Biggar penalties gave the tourists a nine-point lead as they sought a first win in the republic after 10 losses in 48 years.
Wing Cheslin Kolbe scored a try and Willemse converted to leave just two points separating the sides.
Then came the penalty try, the Lake leveller and the last-gasp deciding Willemse three-pointer.
The second Test is in Bloemfontein next Saturday followed by the third in Cape Town on July 16 in a series that may prove closer than most pundits predicted.
Man of the match: Flank Tommy Reffell was probably the best player on the park for Wales. He was a nuisance at the breakdowns and he had a number of strong carries. Lock Will Rowlands was outstanding in the physical exchanges. Damian Willemse had a strong game for the Springboks and he scored the match-winning penalty, while lock Lood de Jager was a colossus in the second row. However, the award goes to Bok No.8 Jasper Wiese. The Leicester Tigers player played out of his skin, especially with ball in hand. He can hold his head high in what was a poor performance from the world champions.
The scorers:
For South Africa:
Tries: Mbonambi, Marx, Kolbe, Penalty Try
Cons: Willemse 2
Pens: E jantjies, Willemse
For Wales:
Tries: Rees-Zammit 2, Lake
Con: Biggar
Pens: Biggar 3
DG: Biggar
Yellow cards: Dan Biggar (Wales, 38' - cynical play, not rolling away); Alun Wyn Jones (Wales, 67' - repeated infringements); Louis Rees-Zammit (South Africa, 74' - cynical play, slowing the ball down); Rhys Carre (Wales, 75' - cynical play, collapsing the maul
Teams:
South Africa: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Francois de Klerk, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Franco Mostert, 6 Siyamthanda Kolisi (captain), 5 Lodewyk de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Mbongeni Mbonambi, 1 Retshegofaditswe Nché.
Replacements: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Salmaan Moerat, 20 Elrigh Louw, 21 Albertus Smith, 22 Herschel Jantjies, 23 Willie le Roux.
Wales: 15 Liam Williams, 14 Louis Rees-Zammit, 13 George North, 12 Nick Tompkins, 11 Josh Adams, 10 Dan Biggar (captain), 9 Kieran Hardy, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Tommy Reffell, 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Adam Beard, 4 Will Rowlands, 3 Dillon Lewis, 2 Ryan Elias, 1 Gareth Thomas.
Replacements: 16 Dewi Lake, 17 Rhys Carre, 18 Tomas Francis, 19 Alun Wyn Jones, 20 Josh Navidi, 21 Tomos Williams, 22 Gareth Anscombe, 23 Owen Watkin.
Referee: Nika Amashukeli (Georgia)
Assistant referees: Angus Gardner (Australia), Andrew Piardi (Italy)
TMO: Joy Neville (Ireland)