Wales edge blunderBoks
Wales recorded only their second-ever win over South Africa in a Test match, winning 12-6 in an error-riddled arm-wrestle in Cardiff on Saturday.
In the end Wales ended a six-year wait for a Southern Hemisphere scalp, following a war of attrition that will ease some of the pressure on under-fire coach Warren Gatland.
It was not a game that will be remembered for the quality of play, but it will certainly go down in Welsh folklore - if only for the bravery and energy the home team displayed.
Credit must go to the Welsh for the manner in which they hassled the Boks and for their bravery on defence. All things considered, they deserved the win.
However, the Springboks will know that they had their worst day of the year, with an error-count that will make most Under-9 C teams ashamed.
And far more concerning will be the knee injury suffered to Bok captain Jean de Villiers.
It looked so serious - given the time the on-field medics took to treat him - that he could be sidelined for six month or longer.
And that could, again, place a question mark on his World Cup participation.
Four Leigh Halfpenny penalties were enough to get past Pat Lambie's brace in a try-less, tense match at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.
Under Gatland, Wales had previously only ever beaten Australia (21-18, in November 2008) from the SANZAR trio also including the Springboks and All Blacks in 27 matches since he took charge in 2007.
The victory in Cardiff was also only Wales' second ever over South Africa in 30 matches, the first coming in 1999, with one match drawn in 1970.
It rounded off a year-end series for Wales that featured defeats by Australia (33-28) and New Zealand (34-16) sandwiching a narrow win over Fiji (17-13).
Wales flyhalf Dan Biggar said the win "means everything".
"All the narrow defeats we've had, and this makes it worth it," Biggar said.
"We always seem to do it the hard way. Yes, we had doubts.
"We've thrown it away so many times in the past, but we got there today and this could really help us move forward. Great relief."
The defeat left the Springboks, the sole team to have inflicted a loss on New Zealand this year, with a November record of two wins (England, 31-28; Italy, 22-6) and two losses, having also gone down 29-15 to Ireland.
Wales, for whom prop Gethin Jenkins was outstanding in defence, were unable to capitalise on early possession and territory and properly utilise the attacking line-out.
That, combined with a lack of creativity out wide, and some hard Springbok running opened up a slugfest as each side struggled to get a foothold in the game where defence was king.
Halfpenny and Lambie traded penalties in a breathless opening 10 minutes with tempers fraying at some overzealous ruck clear-outs.
The back three of each side were peppered as the aerial assaults began, but all proved themselves capable under the high ball.
Halfpenny missed a second penalty, with South African wing Lwazi Mvovo on hand twice to foil grubbers in behind the first line of defence.
When Lambie squirmed away from four tacklers in his own 22-metres area, he shot away with Halfpenny corner-flagging, but perhaps kicked ahead too early, allowing the home fullback to clear.
Wales then set the Millennium Stadium crowd alight with not one but two rarely seen 15-man line-outs, only for a knock-on to hand the 'Boks back advantage despite massive pressure from the home side.
Lambie saw his second penalty also drift wide and Halfpenny was called upon to put in a crunching tackle on Etzebeth after the second row forward broke free on a rampaging run.
But as they were against both Australia and New Zealand, Wales went into half-time level at 3-all, Halfpenny restoring the lead with a long-range 47th minute penalty.
Lambie responded three minutes later with an even longer effort after the Welsh scrum collapsed.
But Halfpenny nailed two more in quick succession as the momentum swung to the home side who began harrying the visitors with their quick line speed in defence.
And wing Cornal Hendricks was then shown a yellow card for taking out Halfpenny in the air, referee Lacey making his decision after seeing footage on the stadium's giant screens.
Wales continued to press but failed to make the most of an attacking scrum after fullback Willie le Roux fumbled a botched drop-goal attempt by Biggar.
But South Africa ran out of steam, allowing Wales to hold on and Gatland breathe a sigh of relief.
Man of the match: You will struggle to find much good to say about the Boks, although Duane Vermeulen had his moments. The Welsh thought Dan Bigger had a great game, but he was far from flawless. Our award goes to Welsh captain and openside flank Sam Warburton - who set the tone for his team with his energy at the breakdown and his work on defence.
Moment of the match: There were no tries and just six penalties. This one goes to the Cornal Hendricks yellow card midway through the second half. There will be plenty of debate about the legitimacy of a call in which the referee first waved play on and was then called back - either by one of his assistants or the TMO. Under pressure, he then made a questionable call.
Villain of the match: We could easily look at the referee's inconsistencies - allowing the Welsh so much license that it appears he was hoping to get the freedom of Cardiff. However, the real villains were the entire Springbok squad - for the countless schoolboy errors.
Quote of the day:
The scorers:
For Wales:
Pens: Halfpenny 4
For South Africa:
Pens: Lambie 2
Yellow card: Cornal Hendricks (South Africa, 63 - foul play, colliding with a man in the air)
Teams:
Wales: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Liam Williams, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Rhys Webb, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Sam Warburton (captain), 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Alun Wyn Jones, 4 Jake Ball, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Scott Baldwin, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements: 16 Emyr Phillips, 17 Aaron Jarvis, 18 Rhodri Jones, 19 Luke Charteris, 20 James King, 21 Mike Phillips, 22 Rhys Priestland, 23 Scott Williams.
South Africa: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cornal Hendricks, 13 Jan Serfontein, 12 Jean de Villiers (captain), 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Pat Lambie, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Teboho Mohoje, 6 Marcell Coetzee, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Julian Redelinghuys, 19 Lodewyk de Jager, 20 Nizaam Carr, 21 Francois Hougaard, 22 Handré Pollard, 23 Damian de Allende.
Referee: John Lacey (Ireland)
Assistant referees: George Clancy (Ireland), Pascal Gauzère (France)
TMO: Graham Hughes (England)
AFP & @rugby365com