Wales finished their 2018 Test campaign in style when they beat South Africa 20-11 in a highly entertaining Test in Cardiff on Saturday.
In a tough and uncompromising clash, highlighted by numerous brutal collisions, Wales stood up well to the Springboks' physical onslaught and eventually outscored their opponents by two tries to one.
The result means Warren Gatland's charges complete their first ever clean sweep in the November internationals, as they also beat Scotland, Australia and Tonga in their previous Tests. They have also now won their ninth Test in a row.
The Springboks were full of running early on and in the fourth minute, Pieter-Steph du Toit found himself in space down the left-hand touchline, just outside Wales' 22, where he sold Hadleigh Parkes a dummy before dotting down. His effort was ruled out, however, as television replays revealed that he had a foot in touch.
Despite that setback, South Africa continued to attack and won plenty of ground but they were met by a solid defensive effort from the home side.
Wales soon got into the game and in the 11th minute, they took the lead when Ellis Jenkins burst through a tackle from Malcolm Marx, inside the Boks' 22, before offloading to Tomas Francis, who crashed over under the posts.
Gareth Anscombe added the extras and Wales held the upper hand over the next five minutes as they had bulk of the possession. And in the 15th minute, they were rewarded again when Anscombe found Liam Williams with a long pass deep inside Springbok territory before he stepped past the cover defence on his way over the try-line.
Anscombe was on target with the conversion attempt again before Handré Pollard opened the visitors' account with a long range penalty midway through the half.
In the 25th minute, Pollard had a chance to further reduce the deficit, after Gareth Davies held onto the ball on the ground, but his shot at goal missed the target. Five minutes later, Anscombe also lined up a kick, after Steven Kitshoff infringed at a ruck, but his effort hit a post.
The next 10 minutes was a slugfest with both sides spending long periods camped inside each other's half, although the Boks finished the half stronger. But, despite dominating those latter stages, they failed to add to their points tally.
In the 38th minute, Embrose Papier made a fabulous break from a line-out close to the halfway line and he did well to boot the ball ahead but knocked on when trying to regather close to Wales' try-line.
A minute later, Jesse Kriel crashed over Wales' try-line from close quarters but his effort was disallowed when the television match official ruled that it was inconclusive whether he grounded the ball.
South Africa continued to attack as the half drew to a close but just before the break, Eben Etzebeth conceded a turnover inside his opponents' 22 which meant Wales had their tails up with the score 14-3 in their favour at half-time.
The Boks came out firing in the second half and after an extensive period camped inside Wales' half, Kriel crossed in the left-hand corner after a strong carry from Duane Vermeulen and quick hands from Willie le Roux in the build-up.
Pollard's conversion attempt was off target but the Boks continued to attack and in the 62nd minute they narrowed the gap to three points when Elton Jantjies slotted a three-pointer off the kicking tee after Wales conceded a breakdown penalty.
That meant it was game on but with the Boks chasing the game, they also conceded several penalties and when it was in goal-kicking range. Wales made them pay. Dan Biggar had replaced Anscombe by then and in the 69th minute he punished a Bok infringement at a breakdown when he slotted the resulting penalty.
And in the 72nd minute, the Boks strayed offside on defence and Biggar added his second penalty which gave his side a 20-11 lead.
The game's closing stages was a frantic affair as the Boks tried desperately to haul in their hosts but it wasn't to be as Wales' defence held firm.
The scorers:
For Wales:
Tries: Francis, L Williams
Cons: Anscombe 2
Pens: Biggar 2
For South Africa:
Try: Kriel
Pens: Pollard, Jantjies
Wales: 15 Liam Williams, 14 George North, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Hadleigh Parkes, 11 Josh Adams, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Ross Moriarty, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Ellis Jenkins, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (c), 4 Adam Beard, 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements: 16 Elliot Dee, 17 Rob Evans, 18 Dillon Lewis, 19 Cory Hill, 20 Aaron Wainwright, 21 Tomos Williams, 22 Dan Biggar, 23 Owen Watkin
South Africa: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Aphiwe Dyantyi, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 Franco Mostert, 4 RG Snyman, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Steven Kitshoff
Replacements: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Thomas du Toit, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Eben Etzebeth, 20 Francois Louw, 21 Ivan van Zyl, 22 Elton Jantjies, 23 Damian Willemse
Referee: Luke Pearce (England)
Assistant referees: Wayne Barnes (England), Karl Dickson (England)
TMO: Simon McDowell (Ireland)
Tries from Jonny May, Elliot Daly, Joe Cokanasiga and Owen Farrell saw England to victory, with Farrell also adding 17 points off the tee.
In a tightly contested encounter, the home side had to dig deep to secure their win but they eventually took control of proceedings and outscored the Pumas by one try to none.
As expected, the Azzurri were on the receiving end of a backlash as the All Blacks bounced back from their defeat to Ireland with a clinical performance. It was a completely one-sided affair as the world champions ran in 10 tries while they prevented their hosts from dotting down. Italy's discipline let them down as they conceded too many penalties, which the visitors duly capitalised on.
In an entertaining encounter, in which momentum between the teams ebbed and flowed, the Springboks' superior physicality played a big part in this victory especially in the second-half when the match was on a knife edge for long periods.
Argentina, meanwhile, have suffered their fourth successive defeat and will be desperate to reverse their downward spiral, just as France did here.
In a match billed as being the game of the November series, it was a brutal encounter, but the scoring was left to the respective kickers in the first half – Johnny Sexton and Beauden Barrett – as they traded a brace of three-pointers in the opening half-an-hour.
The visitors were outstanding in the opening 40 minutes, deservedly going into the break ahead thanks to Ryoto Nakamura and Michael Leitch tries. In contrast, the Red Rose were slack and, despite Danny Care’s try and Elliot Daly’s penalty, the hosts struggled to control possession.
Tonga got themselves off to the worst possible start when they conceded a penalty try and a yellow card to Leva Fifita for bringing down a Wales' driving maul that had marched upfield in the second minute.
Despite outscoring the Azzurri by four tries to one, this was far from a convincing performance from Australia, who were on the back foot for long periods especially during the second-half.
In a tight Test, in which momentum between the sides ebbed and flowed, both sides scored two tries apiece but Mbonambi proved to be the match-winner when he dotted down off the back of a line-out drive deep inside France's 22.
It was a topsy-turvy contest and one where Los Pumas very much came to play. There was little in it at the interval, with Kieran Marmion and Bundee Aki going over for the hosts and Bautista Delguy responding for the Argentinians.
In an evenly contested and often dour encounter, both sides committed a plethora of unforced errors and as the scoreline suggests, neither managed to cross the whitewash.
Similar to the Owen Farrell incident last week, which cost South Africa a chance of winning the game, this time the hosts were denied when Sam Underhill thought he had scored, only for television match official Marius Jonker to rule it out.
The visitors started the game on the front foot. However, they emerged from their spell of dominance with only a Ben Volavola penalty kick to their name.
In a fast paced and exciting game, Italy were the dominant side for most of the match and eventually outscored their visitors by four tries to two with Tommaso Allan contributing 13 points courtesy of a try, two penalties and a conversion.
The Grand Slam champions and the number two side in the world controlled the match from beginning to end and are building up momentum at just the right time ahead of that crucial clash with the All Blacks on November 17.
England will have the psychological momentum going into the World Cup next year with this slender victory, safe in the knowledge they have emerged victorious on the previous two of the four meetings played between the sides this year.
Tries from George North and Jonathan Davies and the boot of Leigh Halfpenny, who kicked 11 points, saw Warren Gatland's outfit to victory.
A 10-try performance saw Dane Coles, Richie Mo'unga, Ngani Laumape (3), Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi, George Bridge (2), Waisake Naholo and Matt Proctor cross the whitewash while fly-half Mo'unga also kicked 17 points off the tee, with Jordie Barrett adding the remaining conversion.
New Zealand though were scoring at will and Naholo's try, after an impressive carry from Gareth Evans, put their seventh try on the board.
Although Australia were aiming to repeat last year's Bledisloe Cup dead rubber win, New Zealand had other ideas and delivered a dominant display in which they outscored the Wallabies by five tries to two with Beauden Barrett leading the way with a 17-point haul courtesy of a try, three conversions and two penalties.