Biggar’s boys show how good they are
Sometimes you just have to curse your bad luck and heap praise on a team even in defeat. One of the main hopes for Wayne Pivac’s side when they headed to South Africa was to restore some pride and play with the passion for which Welsh rugby is renowned.
They did that in spades in the first Test in Pretoria and deserved to get something at least out of an epic international. It was a night of ‘what ifs’ and a game in which one of the greatest results in Welsh rugby history was so tantalisingly close.
They might never get a better chance to break the hoodoo of never having won against the Springboks on South African soil, but they should have no regrets. They proved without doubt that at the top of their game they have what it takes to compete against the very best.
So, what if Dan Biggar had nailed that final conversion of Dewi Lake’s try to regain the lead with three minutes to go?
What if the Georgian referee had’t been so liberal with his yellow cards and penalties?
What if we’d been able to hold up the superb South African driving line-out to deny them at least one of their three tries from that phase?
What if that pass at the death hadn’t hit Biggar’s fingers?
There were many who thought it was going to be an exercise in keeping the scoreline respectable, rather than getting to within six minutes of winning and a few seconds of drawing. After what happened against Italy in their last match, this was a performance that was light years away from that defeat.
There was huge commitment, real confidence and true bravery. They met the Boks on the physical front line and completely frustrated them. There were those who said the Boks were rusty, which was probably true, and that they were poor in the first half.
That’s because Wales shut them down, tackled them every time they had the ball and generally frustrated them all over the park. They looked a shadow of themselves because we made them look poor.
Kieran Hardy popped up box kick after box kick that allowed his team-mates to compete. The chase was good and the aerial battle was dominated by red shirts. The first of Louis ReesZammit’s two tries was a pearler and demonstrated how devastating the Welsh back three can be when they get a chance.
George North and Nick Tompkins made the midfield secure and Biggar was simply inspired. He kept his team moving forward and kicked the vital goals that earned a thoroughly deserved 18-3 interval lead.
I thought he was unlucky to be given a yellow card at the end of the first half. He took Faf de Klerk down with a great tackle from behind and was doing all he could to roll away. Even so, down to 14 men and facing a five metre line-out, his team-mates held their line intact until the break.
Those other three cards in the second half took a cumulative toll and ultimately opened the door for the Boks to battle back. The fact it took them until the 73rd minute to get their noses in front was a tribute to the tenacity and spirit of Biggar’s boys.
Everyone knew the power of the home pack at scrum time and in the driving line-out department was going to be the biggest threat and so it proved. Three tries came from line-out drives, the final one turned into a penalty try, and there will need to be more work done in those areas before the two teams meet again in Bloemfontein.
Next week is another chance to shoot for glory and I urge Pivac to embolden his side even more by giving them licence to thrill once again. With Taulupe Faletua back to his magnificent best, Tommy Reffell reproducing the form he showed as Leicester Tiers won the English Premiership title and Dan Lydiate in impressive form, there is plenty to build on.
South Africa will only get better, we all know that, and will realise they got away with one in Pretoria. But just as they will undoubtedly improve, so can Wales. Their discipline will have to get better – they conceded 15 penalties to South Africa’s seven and picked up four yellow cards – but if they can do that there is no reason why they can’t stay in the fight for the next two Tests.
When the game kicked-off there were few Welsh fans who believed there was much chance of recording a first win over the Boks on South African soil. By half-time they dared to dream and when Dewi Lake drove over to level the scores at 29-29 they thought anything was possible.
Belief will be a key feature of the preparation for the second and third Tests. Why can’t they build on this and give the world champions an even bigger scare next week?
I’ve been on the receiving end of a defeat in added-time and it hurts like hell. But what it also does is make you even more determined to make up for a missed opportunity.
Wales were not only in the game at Loftus Versfeld, they bossed the scoreboard for all bar a few minutes. They proved to themselves, and to everyone else in world rugby, what they can do and how good they can be.
All of a sudden the world doesn’t seem so gloomy. Out of the pain of Pretoria needs to come a bounce back in Bloem. Anything seems possible now! from hooker Gianmarco Lucchesi and lock Niccolo Cannone went over.
After the interval, a break by wing Pierre Bruno was finished by Garbisi, the younger brother of regular fly-half Paolo, who joined him in on the field in the 58th minute.
An Ange Capuozzo counterattack led to Menoncello’s second try, while Allan set up a score for centre Marco Zanon before replacement hooker Giacomo Nicotera went over.
Oaks flanker Vlad Neculau was sent off for a high tackle on Renato Giammarioli late in the game, but they still managed to score a try through replacement prop Alexandru Savin.
Romania head to Uruguay for two Tests in Montevideo, while Italy finish their summer tour against Georgia in Batumi next weekend.
“This performance was light years away from that defeat to Italy”