SA simply must improve to have any World Cup chance
harmlessly towards fullback Willie le Roux, who somehow knocked it on. The pack had to defend a 5m scrum, which they did by winning a penalty.
Le Roux made two more crucial handling errors in the final minutes of the game and the Boks were done.
Hougaard is such a talented player but he is woefully short of confidence and was massively culpable in both defeats on tour. The decision to bring him on when Cobus Reinach calm and in control was questionable unless the halfback was injured.
Once again the Boks’ attack lacked cutting edge and the few chances they came to nothing even though there were glimpses of something special.
Defensively the Springboks were brilliant, considering the amount of tackles they had to make and also when they were down to 14-men. But being sound on the back foot isn’t going to be enough to win the World Cup.
Up front Duane Vermeulen and Eben Etzebeth in particular were immense but the entire pack were heroic and were let down by the backs, especially when in possession.
Flyhalf Pat Lambie’s efforts was a microcosm of the team’s display, mixing the sublime with the ridiculous. Lambie showed why he has become the first choice flyhalf on the tour with some assured touches that had a sprinkling of genius about them, but he also made some basic errors.
From his opening penalty kick from 42m in a slight angle he looked like he was in a confident mood and that confidence grew as the game progressed. He added another from 51m early in the second half.
Midway through the first half Lambie received a pass from Reinach deep inside his in-goal area, but was calm enough to make a superb 40m touch even though he could see the whites of Sam Warburton’s eyes.
When Victor Matfield poached a Welsh lineout on the Bok 22m area, Lambie was quickest to react to tidy up. He screwed out of one tackle and ducked under another before bursting up field.
The Bok lineout was again excellent and last week’s lineout problems in Italy.
Matfield was his usual colossal self in the lineout, Etzebeth’s physical presence was enormous. He is back to best.
Unfortunately many others weren’t up to their best. Comment on this: write to tellus@sundaytimes.co.za or SMS us at 33971 WITH a little over 10 months to go to the World Cup the Springboks have much to improve if they hope to make a tilt at the title after losing a second match of this difficult tour against a deserving Wales yesterday.
Welsh fullback Leigh Halfpenny kicked four penalties to two from Pat Lambie to steer his side to their second win over the Springboks in more than a century of asking.
Wales ended a streak of losing to one of the southern hemisphere big three that stretched back to 2008 and 22 games.
The home team were deserving on the day, especially as they controlled the match tactically through the boot of flyhalf Dan Biggar and the brilliance of Halfpenny at the back.
Biggar was seen as a defensive liability but he stood up to the pounding the Boks sent up his channel. Overall the Welsh defence was excellent.
Seldom has the Bok pack played as well and come away on the wrong side of the result, but there were too many mistakes from players in key positions.
Francois Hougaard’s 20 minutes off the bench were littered with errors and fullback Willie le Roux made two critical handling mistakes at times when the Boks were fighting to get back into the match.
Wales came with a clear plan to test the Boks with an aerial assault, which worked well as the Boks battled.
The Welsh also mixed up their tactics, using cross-field kicks and grubbers to keep the Springbok defence guessing.
Wales sent centre Jamie Roberts hard at Jean de Villiers and Jan Serfontein in the opening 10 minutes. The Bok duo stood their ground, smashing the meaty Roberts backwards.
Wales had most of the ball in the opening quarter but could not break the Bok defence down. Their most effective way of breaching the line was through several clever kicks in behind the green wall. Twice Bok left wing Lwazi Mvovo scampered to the right to save a try with Liam Williams bearing down.
Halfpenny opened the scoring with a fourth-minute penalty and unbelievably missed an attempt a few minutes later — his first miss in three autumn tests.
Lambie, who endured a mixed performance that was at times brilliant and at times poor, landed a 42m penalty to level the score after 10 minutes. He too missed a second attempt but landed a penalty from 51m early in the second half just after Halfpenny had given Wales the lead with his second penalty.
Individually Eben Etzebeth, Duane Vermeulen, Bismarck du Plessis and Coenie Oosthuizen gave massive performances.
De Villiers suffered a horror knee injury early in the second half. The team’s composure wilted without his leadership as the mistakes multiplied in the final quarter.
Cornal Hendricks was yellowcarded for taking Halfpenny out in the air in the 62nd minute, a crucial error at a critical time.