By Johnathan Paoli
The Springboks completed an unbeaten home leg of the inaugural Nations Championship with a comprehensive 43-0 victory over Wales, extending their winning streak to 11 Test matches while showcasing the depth of Rassie Erasmus’ squad.
Playing their final match for the southern section of the championships at the Hollywoodbets Kings Park in Durban on Saturday, South Africa controlled the scrums, line-outs and breakdowns for long periods but fumbled the ball several times and missed opportunities that prevented an even bigger margin of victory.
South Africa struck first after just five minutes when Jasper Wiese powered through a gap following sustained attacking pressure, and flyhalf Vusi Moyo converting the try to 7-0.
The Springboks’ scrum immediately established its authority, repeatedly forcing penalties from the Welsh front row.
Malcolm Marx also proved influential at the breakdown, winning crucial turnovers that kept Wales pinned inside their own half.
Scrumhalf Cobus Reinach scored another try in the 14th minute before Moyo converted to extend the advantage to 14-0.
Despite their territorial dominance, South Africa were frustrated by a string of unforced errors.
A driving maul ended with a knock-on, Pieter-Steph du Toit was denied a try because of accidental offside after another Reinach break, while further attacking line-outs failed to produce points.
Wales briefly ventured into the Springbok 22m territory but found themselves repeatedly pushed backwards by South Africa’s defence and dominant set piece.
The Springboks added a third try before halftime when Jesse Kriel finished out wide after Moyo produced an excellent cross-field kick.
The conversion drifted wide, leaving South Africa 19-0 ahead at the break despite spending much of the opening 40 minutes camped inside Welsh territory.
But after the break, the Springboks made an immediate statement, with Reinach tapping the ball to lock Cobus Wiese, whose offload released wing Jaco Williams to sprint over for an impressive first Test try.
Moyo added the conversion to stretch the lead to 26-0.
Wales enjoyed their best spell of possession during the third quarter, earning consecutive penalties and attacking line-outs deep inside Springbok territory.
However, Paul de Villiers delivered another outstanding display at openside flank, repeatedly disrupting Welsh possession with vital breakdown steals.
South Africa introduced fresh players from the bench, including Herschel Jantjies, Andre-Hugo Venter, Wilco Louw and Manie Libbok.
Jantjies scored his first try in the 63rd minute, with Williams running down the touchline before passing to the replacement scrumhalf to finish under pressure.
The conversion was missed, but the Springboks had opened a commanding 31-0 advantage.
Wales’ afternoon became even more difficult moments later when replacement prop Ben Warren received a yellow card after the television match official ruled that he had made dangerous head contact on Marco van Staden.
Playing with a one-man advantage, South Africa quickly capitalised.
Libbok produced a long cut-out pass that released Kurt-Lee Arendse, who finished in the corner for the Springboks’ sixth try.
Although the conversion missed, the hosts had extended their lead to 36-0 with 10 minutes remaining.
The final try came from De Villiers after crashing over from a driving maul, with Libbok successfully converting to a victory of 43-0.
While South Africa’s set-piece dominance and defensive discipline stood out throughout the contest, Erasmus will likely be less pleased with the number of handling errors that interrupted attacking momentum.
But the match provided encouraging signs from the new faces in the squad.
Williams and Moyo both impressed, with Williams scoring a memorable first test try while Moyo contributed successful conversions throughout the game.
Ruben van Heerden and Carlu Sadie also slotted comfortably into the forward pack.
Speaking before the match, Erasmus praised the team, as well as the four debutant players, stating that the team is one of the youngest in history.
“For them to win the match, and to get out game right, cause we have been chopping and changing now, we haven’t been as fluid as we want to be,” Erasmus said.
“Last week a few defensive errors with new personnel coming in. But overall I don’t feel we have as much scrum maul dominance as we liked to be,” he added.
The victory followed earlier Nations Championship wins over England and Scotland, sending the Springboks into the away leg of the tournament full of confidence.
The Springboks now turn their attention to the away leg of the competition after completing a flawless home campaign with three victories from three matches, reinforcing their status as one of the favourites to challenge for the inaugural Nations Championship title.
