Eben Etzebeth of South Africa attempts to get past Gareth Thomas of Wales during the second Test against Wales at Toyota Stadium in Bloemfontein on Saturday Eben Etzebeth of South Africa attempts to get past Gareth Thomas of Wales during the second Test against Wales at Toyota Stadium in Bloemfontein on Saturday. Photo: Shaun Roy/BackpagePix
Bloemfontein — Wales won their first ever match on South African soil when they did to the Springboks what had been done to them a week before in Pretoria when a last minute penalty secured the spoils, this time 13-12 to the visitors.
It will be debated whether it was Pyrrhic victory given that the Boks had controversially overhauled their team from the first Test but the history books do not care for detail, and there will be many South Africans who will curse the Boks’ coaching staff for gambling on a Test match.
The counter-argument is that if the Boks defend their World Cup title next year after having grown their depth via matches such as this, then nobody will care what happened on this evening when a number of Young Turks were blended into the mix.
This was a day when the northern hemisphere struck back after a whitewash last week, with wins by Ireland and England over New Zealand and Australia respectively, preceding kick-off in South Africa
To be fair, in the build up to this game the word disrespect had been bandied about in both camps regarding the 14 changes to the Springboks’ team, but it did not take long after kick-off for that nonsense to evaporate into the Free State night as an absorbing arm wrestle became evident.
The match kicked off in a terrific atmosphere as 46 000 Free Staters voiced their approval of the first Bok game in Bloemfontein since England were beaten there in 2018, but the smoke had barely cleared from the fireworks when the Boks were 3-0 down after conceding a penalty in front of their posts from the kick-off.
The Boks did not flinch and rampaged up the field from the restart and came within inches of scoring before it was Wales’ turn to infringe in front, and Handre Pollard equalised.
Biggar and Pollard both missed long-range penalties as the tense tussle neared the first quarter mark, with the Mexican Wave now resounding around the ground.
There was a statement of intent from the Boks in the 23rd minute when Pollard kicked a penalty in the Welsh 22 to the corner only for hooker Joseph Dweba to throw in skew, and a great attacking chance was lost.
It was not a good decision by the captain — Dweba is known to have throw-in issues and as Naas Botha would say, you have to build scoreboard pressure, especially in tight Test matches.
The almighty arm wrestle continued to the half-time hooter and at 3-3, who was going to crack in the second half?
Two minutes into the new half it was the captain himself who surged through the defence midway in the Welsh half and when the defenders infringed at the tackle, he kicked his team ahead.
But the malaise that plagued the Boks week before in Pretoria struck again, with them not looking after the ball from the restart and conceding a penalty, but there was a let-off when Biggar uncharacteristically missed.
The Boks by now were establishing a stranglehold on the game and the gathering pressure told in the 12th minute when Wales gave up a penalty for Pollard to goal and three minutes later the medicine produced another penalty for Pollard, but this time he missed a relative sitter.
As the game hit the three-quarter mark, the crowd roared the Boks towards the Welsh line but while they could not wrestle over, the penalty came and this Pollard made it 12-3, a significant advantage in the context of such a close game.
But the tension grew when Gareth Anscombe, on for injured Biggar, nailed a long-ranger to put Wales within seven points of the lead, and the Boks were fortunate indeed when the usually precise Anscombe missed a minute later.
But Wales were growing in confidence against a Bok team that lost shape when their substitutes came on, and they nailed the first try of the mach in the 78th minute when winger Josh Adams scored in the corner and Anscombe had the opportunity to kick Wales to victory, and that he did.
Point-scorers
Springboks 12 — Penalties: Handre Pollard (4)
Wales 13 — Try: Josh Adams. Penalties: Dan Biggar, Gareth Anscombe. Conversion: Anscombe.
IOL Sport
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