Springboks manhandle woeful Wales to complete Autumn Nations Series sweep, piling more pressure on Warren Gatland

South Africa cruised to a predictably emphatic 45-12 victory over struggling Wales to finish their Autumn Nations Series campaign on a high note on Saturday.

Tries from Franco Mostert, Eben Etzebeth, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Elrigh Louw, Aphelele Fassi, Gerhard Steenekamp and Jordan Hendrikse saw the Springboks to victory.

For Wales this is their 12th Test defeat on the spin as the pressure continues to mount on under-fire head coach Warren Gatland following a difficult year at the helm.

The gulf in quality was evident right from the first whistle as the Springboks raced into a 12-0 inside eight minutes thanks to tries from lock duo Mostert and Etzebeth.

The former’s score was created thanks to South Africa dominating the physical exchanges and after Cheslin Kolbe was tackled, Mostert hit a wonderful angle off Jaden Hendrikse to stroll over the whitewash.  Jordan Hendrikse added the conversion as the Springboks put down an early marker at the Principality Stadium.

Not to be outdone, his second-row partner Etzebeth was next to cross as he combined superbly with Arendse on the left wing before adding his name to the board.

It was relentless and could have been much worse for the struggling Welsh had Siya Kolisi and Fassi not been held up over the try-line on either side of an Ardendse try.

Kolisi was denied again on 33 minutes after the officials spotted a spillage from Jaden Hendrikse at the base of a ruck as Wales looked to be living on borrowed time.

And so it proved as following utter scrum dominance from the Springboks, flanker Louw picked and went from close range to claim his side’s fourth try of the evening.

To their credit Wales did manage to end the half with some points on the board as Rio Dyer’s courageous score on the right wing gave them a glimmer of hope at 26-5.

There was no score in the opening 14 minutes of the second half with replacements being made during that time, with a new Bok front-row amongst those emerging.

But the lean spell was ended on 54 minutes when a lovely dummy and then pass from Arendse handed Fassi a clear run-in to the line for an unconverted try for 31-5.

That once again opened the floodgates for the Springboks as replacement prop Steenekamp was next to cross from close range, with Jordan Hendrikse adding the two.

The Bok fly-half was the next to put his name on the try-scoring sheet when he collected a lovely offload from Cobus Reinach before nailing the difficult conversion.

But Wales and their fans will be buoyed by how they finished the game and for those who had not made an early exit from the stadium, they saw James Botham claim a deserved try that was converted by Ben Thomas, which ended a one-sided game.

The teams

Wales:  15 Blair Murray, 14 Josh Hathaway, 13 Max Llewellyn, 12 Ben Thomas, 11 Rio Dyer, 10 Sam Costelow, 9 Ellis Bevan, 8 Taine Plumtree, 7 Jac Morgan, 6 James Botham, 5 Christ Tshiunza, 4 Will Rowlands, 3 Archie Griffin, 2 Dewi Lake, 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements:  16 Ryan Elias, 17 Kemsley Mathias, 18 Keiron Assiratti, 19 Freddie Thomas, 20 Tommy Reffell, 21 Rhodri Williams, 22 Eddie James, 23 Owen Watkin

South Africa:  15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Jordan Hendrikse, 9 Jaden Hendrikse, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Elrigh Louw, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Thomas du Toit
Replacements:  16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Marco van Staden, 20 RG Snyman, 21 Cameron Hanekom, 22 Cobus Reinach, 23 Handre Pollard

Referee:  Karl Dickson (England)
Assistant Referees:  Christophe Ridley (England), Damian Schneider (Argentina)
TMO:  Andrew Jackson (England)

Springboks shake off rust as debutant shines in convincing win over Wales

The Springboks kicked off their mid-year international campaign with a 41-13 victory over Warren Gatland’s under-strength Wales at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.

Tries from Jesse Kriel, Makazole Mapimpi, Bongi Mbonambi and Edwill van der Merwe were added to by a penalty try as South Africa sealed the win in the London sunshine.

Captain Dewi Lake would grab Wales’ only try of the game as they fought admirably but ultimately were well beaten as the world champions pulled clear late on in the fixture.

Player of the match Van der Merwe shone on debut for the Springboks and added the gloss on an impressive individual performance with a solo try late on at Twickenham.

Wales’ list of absentees ― players either injured, unavailable or rested ― ran comfortably into double figures and they were widely expected to suffer a crushing defeat.

But they trailed only 14-13 at half-time following a try for hooker Lake, with fly-half Sam Costelow adding two penalties and a conversion.

The Springboks, who are building for a two-Test series against fellow heavyweights Ireland in July, often struggled to impose themselves on a first outing since retaining the World Cup eight months ago.

South Africa ultimately scored 27 second-half points without reply, yet Wales will take a considerable amount of confidence with them on tour to Australia despite suffering a seventh successive defeat since beating World Cup pool opponents Georgia.

Jordan Hendrikse missed an early penalty chance for South Africa but the Springboks went ahead after just four minutes when they shredded Wales’ defence through a sweeping attack.

Mapimpi broke clear after collecting full-back Aphelele Fassi’s pass, and supporting centre Kriel was afforded a simple finish, before Hendrikse converted for a 7-0 lead.

Costelow opened Wales’ account through a seventh-minute penalty but they were soon on the back-foot again following Springboks number eight Evan Roos’ midfield surge, with wing Rio Dyer being yellow-carded for a technical infringement.

South Africa then attacked from a close-range lineout and referee Chris Busby awarded them a penalty try after Wales forward Aaron Wainwright illegally pulled down a maul. Wainwright was sin-binned and South Africa had an 11-point advantage.

Despite their numerical disadvantage, Wales should have scored early in the second quarter after Liam Williams intercepted Hendrikse’s pass, but scrum-half Ellis Bevan couldn’t gather the ball from centre Mason Grady and a glorious chance went astray.

Wales did not have to wait much longer, though, to cut the deficit after Fassi was yellow-carded when his boot caught flanker Taine Plumtree in the face.

South Africa could not clear danger from a lineout inside their own 22 and Lake pounced for a score that Costelow converted, making it 14-10.

It was an impressive recovery by Wales and their fightback continued six minutes before half-time when another Costelow penalty meant that South Africa led by just a point.

Wales lost prop Keiron Assiratti with an injury on the stroke of half-time ― he was replaced by Harri O’Connor ― yet his team had defied pre-match odds at the halfway point.

South Africa struck within two minutes of the second-half starting and it was a simple try as they simply out-flanked Wales’ defence and Mapimpi had a straightforward run-in, with Hendrikse converting from the touchline.

Hendrikse kicked a long-range penalty to extend South Africa’s advantage, then his replacement Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu bisected Wales’ posts from inside his own half, and Wales trailed by 14 points.

The quality of South Africa’s bench began to take its toll, and Wales were powerless to prevent Mbonambi crashing over from close range as the Springboks moved past 30 points, then Van der Merwe broke clear five minutes from time.

The teams

South Africa:  15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Edwill van der Merwe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Jordan Hendrikse, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit (c), 6 Kwagga Smith, 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Ox Nche
Replacements:  16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 18 Frans Malherbe, 19 Salmaan Moerat, 20 Ben-Jason Dixon, 21 Grant Williams, 22 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 23 Damian de Allende

Wales:  15 Cameron Winnett, 14 Liam Williams, 13 Owen Watkin, 12 Mason Grady, 11 Rio Dyer, 10 Sam Costelow, 9 Ellis Bevan, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 James Botham, 6 Taine Plumtree, 5 Ben Carter, 4 Matthew Screech, 3 Keiron Assiratti, 2 Dewi Lake, 1 Gareth Thomas
Replacements:  16 Evan Lloyd, 17 Kemsley Mathias, 18 Harri O’Connor, 19 James Ratti, 20 Mackenzie Martin, 21 Gareth Davies, 22 Eddie James, 23 Jacob Beetham

Referee:  Chris Busby (Ireland)
Assistant Referees:  Christophe Ridley (England), Adam Leal (England)
TMO:  Mark Patton (Ireland)