The Springboks totally overpowered their Welsh counterparts in the final 15 minutes of the second Test at a wet Newlands, in Cape Town, to seal the series with a hard-fought 19-8 victory.
Both teams were still in with a chance after an hour of hard rugby, but two penalties by flyhalf André Pretorius and a charge down try by replacement scrumhalf Craig Davidson was enough to send the Springbok supporters amongst the big crowd of 40,547 into cries of ecstasy.
The Springboks took an 8-3 lead at the break after nippy fullback Brent Russell, in only his second game for the Springboks, sliced open the Welsh defence inside their 22 for his first Test try while Davidson's late five-pointer -- awarded after consultation with the TMO -- was the final nail in the coffin of a tough Welsh side.
Russell's try came after the Boks somehow managed to win back a line-out, AJ Venter carried the ball up the middle and the ball quickly went through the hands of Breyton Paulse and Marius Joubert before flyhalf André Pretorius put the nuggety fullback away.
Davidson got his five-pointer after a rare mistake by Welsh skipper Colin Charvis, whose kick inside his in-goal area, was charged down by the replacement No.9.
The first half was a very tight affair, and as a result a few scuffles broke out between the green and red jerseys.
At the first scrum the two hookers -- South Africa's James Dalton and his Welsh counterpart Robin McBryde -- were at each other's throats, a little later Bok tighthead Willie Meyer was sin-binned for kicking McBryde and even right-wing Stefan Terblanché and Andy Marinos -- the former Western Province centre who led his team onto the pitch -- greeted one another shortly before the break.
The second half started quietly for the home team as the Welsh hit back five minutes after the re-start when Charvis scored a good forwards try.
The visitors won a line-out close to the Bok try-line following a good run by right-wing Rhys Williams. His namesake Steve Williams won the line-out, the forwards put in a good shove and from the re-cycled possession Charvis bulldozed his way through Johannes Conradie's attempted tackle to level the scores.
The two packs were very evenly-matched, with the visitors probably having a slight ascendancy in the scrums, while the line-outs were 50/50.
Both Gareth Llewellyn and Steve Williams did good work, but the young Michael Owen was superb, both at taking his own ball and contesting the Boks's. Add to that Charvis playing a real captain's innings, and the Welsh pack can be satisfied with their performance at a cold and wet Newlands.
Behind the pack Dwayne Peel and his replacement Ryan Powell played well, providing flyhalf Stephen Jones -- who got the scoreboard ticking in the 20th minute with a penalty -- with enough good ball which he could either belt downfield or hoist into the air.
The visitors showed their intentions to test the inexperienced Russell at fullback, but the blond speedster came away with his reputation in tact.
While the 22-year-old Russell launched a few good touchfinders, his midfield of De Wet Barry and Marius Joubert flew into the Welsh backline, making a few big hits early on.
Amongst the home team's forwards, Dalton and lock Jannes Labuschagne did awesome work in the loose as well as on defence, while the Lions lock was solid in the line-outs too.
Corné Krige and AJ Venter did the hard work, but unfortunately Bob Skinstad struggled to get his flair going in a tight game. He did have a solid game, though.
Joubert had another excellent game in the Green and Gold, breaking the Welsh defence on a number of occasions as well as tackling without fear.
The Boks got their first points in the 25th minute when Pretorius slotted a penalty after flank Martyn Williams dived onto Skinstad on the ground.
Russell's and Charvis' tries set up a thrilling second-half, in which no team gave an inch.
But that changed towards the end, and Pretorius put the Boks in the lead with 14 minutes left on the clock when Owen played the ball from an offside position after Rhys Williams knocked on with Joubert storming after his own chip-kick.
Four minutes later Pretorius increased their lead with another penalty, which meant Wales had to score a converted try in the last nine minutes of the game.
But the Boks scored the try -- through Davidson -- to put the result, and the series, in their favour.
Man of the match: If things go according to plan for the young Brent Russell, he has every chance to become a Springbok great. Playing in his first big game at fullback, the diminutive Russell didn't put a foot wrong, and he constantly kept the Welsh guessing with probing counter-attacks and long-range touchfinders.
Moment of the match: After the hooter had gone to signal the end of the first-half, the Springbok backs showed excellent handling skills to put Russell over for a superb try. Davidson's try, in his first Test appearance for South Africa, was also special.
Villain of the match: Although there were quite a few scuffles during the match, Willie Meyer's unnecessary use of the boot -- which earned him a yellow card -- was totally uncalled for.
The Teams:
South Africa: 1 Daan Human, 2 James Dalton, 3 Willie Meyer, 4 Jannes Labuschagne, 5 Quinton Davids, 6 A.J. Venter, 7 Corne Krige, 8 Bobby Skinstad (c), 9 Bolla Conradie, 10 Andre Pretorius, 11 Breyton Paulse, 12 De Wet Barry, 13 Marius Joubert, 14 Stefan Terblanche, 15 Brent Russell
Reserves: Craig Davidson, Faan Rautenbach, Ollie Le Roux, Hottie Louw, Joe Van Niekerk
Unused: Werner Greeff, Adi Jacobs
Wales: 1 Iestyn Thomas, 2 Robin McBryde, 3 Ben Evans, 4 Gareth Llewellyn, 5 Steve Williams, 6 Michael Owen, 7 Martyn Williams, 8 Colin Charvis (c), 9 Dwayne Peel, 10 Stephen Jones, 11 Craig Morgan, 12 Andy Marinos, 13 Mark Taylor, 14 Rhys Williams, 15 Kevin Morgan
Reserves: Mefin Davies, Ryan Powell, Tom Shanklin, Robert Sidoli, Gavin Thomas, Neil Jenkins
Unused: Martyn Madden
Attendance: 40547
Referee: Spreadbury t.
Points Scorers:
South Africa
Tries: Davidson C.D. 1, Russell B. 1
Pen K.: Pretorius A.S. 3
Wales
Tries: Charvis C.L. 1
Pen K.: Jones S.M. 1
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