Meyer puts on brave face as Wales end their horror run

WALES captain Sam Warburton savoured an ‘awesome’ win as Warren Gatland’s side ended a demoralising run of 22 defeats against major southern hemisphere opposition yesterday.

The 12-6 win over South Africa has Welsh hopes for next year’s Six Nations and the World Cup were lifted though by the success over the Springboks in Cardiff.

‘It’s amazing,’ said Warburton.

‘I said before, I wish people could see the effort we’ve put in the last five weeks. We’ve been getting up at six in the morning and altitude-training, and doing all sorts, we were just so desperate to get this win. You get out what you put in.

‘We’ve been desperate to do this for so long and we’ve been knocking on the door for ages. This is right up with the best achievements I’ve had in the Wales jersey.’ South Africa coach Heyneke Meyer says he is not going to hit the panic button despite suffering a second November tour defeat following the loss to Ireland in Dublin.

Meyer did admit to being very worried about captain Jean de Villiers, who was taken to hospital with a dislocated knee.

‘I know we are much better than this. All credit to Wales, they played well, but this being the fourth game on tour, and with some players unavailable, it was always going to be tough and we were always going to be under pressure.

‘I still believe we’re on the right track and we can win it (the World Cup),’ he added. Wales: L Halfpenny (S Williams 67min); S Cuthbert, J Davies, J Roberts, L Williams; D Biggar, R Webb; G Jenkins, S Baldwin, S Lee; J Ball, AW Jones; D Lydiate, S Warburton (capt), T Faletau. scorers – Pens: Halfpenny 4. south africa: W Le Roux; C Hendricks, J Serfontein, J De Villiers, L Mvovo; P Lambie (F Hougaard 58), C Reinach; T Mtawarira (T Nyakane 54), B du Plessis (A Strauss 58), C Oosthuizen (J Redelinghuys 70), E Etzebeth (L De Jager 69), V Matfield; M Coetzee, O Mohoje (Carr 54), D Vermeulen. scorers – Pens: Lambie 2. referee: J Lacey (Ireland).