Springboks scrape past Wales
South Africa recovered from a sluggish first-half display to beat Wales 29-25 at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday.
Last Updated: 13/11/10 9:15pm
South Africa recovered from a sluggish first-half display to beat Wales 29-25 at the Millennium Stadium, maintaining their perfect record on their European tour.
The Springboks were way off the pace in the first half and were somewhat fortunate to head in just eight points down at the interval, after Wales ran in tries through debutant George North and James Hook.
But the resilient world champions came to life early in the second period and hit back with tries of their own through Willem Alberts and Victor Matfield to take the lead.
North added a second try to cap a memorable debut, but ultimately it was to prove a disappointing one with the trusty boot of Morne Steyn (19 points) ensuring the tourists scraped home for a narrow win.
Steyn slotted the first of his five penalties in the opening minute after Jonathan Thomas was caught offside at a ruck, but Wales responded in stunning style through North.
Having opted to kick a penalty to touch deep in South Africa territory, Wales were rewarded as they won the line-out and set a platform allowing their three-quarters to produce a simple runaround move that saw North scamper home unopposed next to the posts.
The normally-reliable Steyn let Wales off the hook on 11 minutes as he missed a very kickable chance after skipper Matthew Rees was caught offside and it was to prove costly as Wales extended their lead five minutes later.
Having manufactured quick ball after a counter attack by Lee Bryne, Wales made full use of an overlap out wide as Shane Williams accelerated through the South African defensive line before passing back inside to Hook who had a clear run to the line.
Stephen Jones kicked his second conversion of the day, but Steyn responded by landing his second penalty, with Andy Powell somewhat harshly penalised for going off his feet at a tackle.
Dominant
But with Wales on the front foot and dominating both territory and possession, an increasingly ragged Springbok outfit paid for their indiscipline. Although Hook saw a penalty attempt from inside his own half drift just wide, Jones made no mistake from closer range after Deon Stegmann was pinged for an infringement at a ruck.
But it was the South Africans who finished the half the stronger as Wales were forced to desperately defend their line. The Springboks should have gone over for a try but, having wasted a clear chance to score out wide, they had to settle for a third penalty from Steyn to make the half-time score 17-9.
That lead was quickly extended to 20-9 after the restart when Bismarck du Plessis was called for trying to play the ball while on the floor, allowing Jones to kick his second penalty.
But from a position of apparent power, Wales suddenly found themselves on the back foot as the South Africans finally roused themselves to demonstrate just why they are the current world champions.
Bryne was penalised for not rolling away allowing Steyn to kick his fourth penalty and the Springboks then came alive with two tries in three minutes.
After sustained pressure, the Welsh line was finally breached when substitute Alberts crashed over from close range out wide - Steyn adding a fine conversion to bring the visitors back within one at 20-19.
They then hit the front as captain Matfield went over to mark his record-breaking 103rd cap. Having worked the ball from right to left, the Wales defence was left horribly exposed when the South Africans quickly moved the ball back the other way and skipper Matfield, up in the line, careered over despite the attention of two would-be tacklers - Steyn added the extras.
Frantic
A frantic five-minute period was capped by North who, alone in oceans of space on the right wing, was spotted by Jones, the young winger collecting an astute cross-field kick from his fly-half to drop over the line for his second try.
But Jones was unable to add the conversion and South Africa's slender lead was stretched to four points with 16 minutes remaining when Wales' backs were caught offside at a maul handing Steyn a simple penalty chance in front of posts.
Needing a try to snatch victory, Wales laid siege to the South African line in the closing stages, going through some 15 phases of possession in injury-time, but some superb defence kept them at bay as the Springboks made it two wins from two games on European soil this year.
