Wales down Boks

WASHINGTON DC. — Rassie Erasmus’ reign as South Africa’s rugby coach got off to the worst possible start against Wales in Washington DC on Saturday.

Ryan Elias’ late try gave Wales a 22-20 victory against a muchchanged South Africa.

In what can only be described as a forgettable Test, blighted by atrocious kicking and fundamental errors from both sides in front of a disappointing crowd in wet conditions, the Springboks lost 22-20 in a scoreline that flattered the losers.

The first 40 minutes were arguably the worst produced by a Springbok side in recent times as they went into the break 14-3 down, with those fans watching live on TV no doubt ruing the fact they’d stayed up for the 11pm kick-off.

In fact it was only the introduction of fresh legs off the bench - and a yellow card to Wales centre Owen Watkin - midway through the second stanza - that the Boks fought their way into the match.

And Erasmus, SA Rugby’s Director of Rugby, offered no excuses for the Springboks’ narrow loss against Wales in difficult conditions in Washington DC.

Wales scored their third and decisive try right at the end of the Test when reserve hooker, Elias, dotted down after a clearance kick by Robert du Preez was charged down.

Earlier in the match, the Springboks fought their way back from a halftime deficit of 14-3 to lead by 20-17 thanks to second-half tries by both debutant wings, Makazole Mapimpi and Travis Ismaiel, and penalty goals by Elton Jantjies and Du Preez.

“We knew there would be risks involved by only coming over later in the week, but we’re not making any excuses – the Welsh showed more determination in the end to clinch the game,” said Erasmus.

“All their tries were scored as a result of kicking – a charged down kick and box kicks we failed to control – and also we committed some defensive errors. We had our chances to score, and overall I think it was the pressure, which they were able to put on us at the end, that won it for them.

“The one positive for me is that there were quite a few new players who got caps today and now know what it’s like to play against a quality team like the Welsh, but it’s still a Test that we lost, and that hurt.

“It’s never nice when you play your first Test and you lose, and we didn’t want that result, but we wanted to get all of the uncapped players on the field and start building towards the future. However, we still lost and that almost nullified the fact that we capped a lot of new players.” — AFP.