Wales the brave pipped again in a heart-breaker

WALES are no strangers to heroic defeat at the hands of the southern hemisphere’s big three.

The 2012 home loss to Australia and a 31-30 reversal in South Africa in 2014 are two of the more heartbreaking setbacks of the pro era.

But in Pretoria yesterday — with a first victory on Springbok soil within their grasp — Wayne Pivac’s men hit a new low.

‘The last thing I want to do is come into a press conference and be brave losers,’ said Wales skipper Dan Biggar after his team were beaten at the death again.

Cruelly for Biggar and Wales, that is exactly what they were. They deserved more. But in international rugby you do not always get what you deserve. Damian Willemse’s 82nd-minute penalty with the last kick of the game was yet more evidence of that.

Wales’ poor discipline in the final quarter was their undoing.

A trio of late yellow cards for Alun Wyn Jones, the outstanding Louis Rees-Zammit — who scored twice — and Rhys Carre allowed South Africa to snatch victory.

Biggar’s late deliberate knock-on allowed Willemse a shot at victory and he nailed it. Jacques Nienaber’s Springboks are not world champions for nothing.

‘When you go down to 12 men against the world champions, it is very difficult,’ said coach Pivac said. ‘Four yellow cards is pretty tough to take. Unfortunately, we didn’t get across the line.

‘It was a big step up from our last performance but I’m frustrated with the discipline. It was a big effort, but one that got away.’

In the final 10 minutes — with South Africa’s trademark power game in full swing — Wales got on the wrong side of rookie Georgian referee Nika Amashukeli.

Jones and Rees-Zammit were sent to the sin-bin for offside and not releasing respectively. Amashukeli, only 27, then awarded South Africa a penalty try and put Carre in the cooler for trying to sack the driving maul. Wales somehow rose from the canvas. The men in red drove replacement hooker Dewi Lake over for a try which tied the scores at 29-29. Biggar could not convert.

The chance of victory had gone begging but pain was to come. Biggar was penalised and Willemse made him pay. Pivac and Biggar pledged to review the yellow card decisions.

MIRELAND coach Andy Farrell said Johnny Sexton could be available for next weekend’s second Test after a resounding 42-19 loss to New Zealand in the opener. The skipper was forced off after half an hour of a torrid night in Auckland with a head injury but satisfied a post-match assessment.

heavily after the dismissal of Swain. ‘That always happens,’ he said. ‘You look at the history of the game, whenever you get a red card, the referee evens it up. It’s reciprocity, it happens, that’s normal and we’ve got to be good enough to handle it.

‘That happens in every game I’ve seen. One team gets a red and the opposition gets evened up, because they’re nice blokes, referees.

I’m not criticising the referees, I’m not using it as an excuse, that’s the reality of rugby. I think when you play against 14 men, the referee has a significant impact on the game. He evens it up. He helps the team with the red card.

‘You’ve got to be good enough to understand what that impact is and we weren’t good enough to understand what that is. And therefore we paid the price.

‘We are not using the referee as an excuse, but the referee changes and you have to adapt.’

Jones accepted blame for England’s fourth successive defeat —and a fifth in seven games in 2022 — but was bullish about his side’s chances of recovering to win the series, adding: ‘I’m disappointed that we’ve lost. The results aren’t good enough. I accept that and that’s my responsibility. We’ll work hard to turn it around. It’s painful, but we’re committed to winning the series 2-1.’

Dave Rennie, the Wallabies head coach, hailed his team’s character and resilience, saying: ‘We train with the scenario of playing with 14 or 13 players all the time. What we know is that we just have to work harder. We found a way.’

He also revealed that Australia will closely scrutinise the conduct of Hill, who escaped any punishment for shoving Swain hard in the face with both hands moments before they clashed again, leading to a red card for the Wallaby and a yellow for the Englishman.

‘There was certainly provocation, not just in that situation but also earlier in the game,’ said Rennie.

‘We’ll have a decent look at the footage and work out how we’re going to appeal that. We’ll have a decent look at the card. We’ll be seeking clarity around it. If it’s a head-butt, it’s clearly a red card.’