Boks bashed at home by Wales
South Africa 12 Wales 13
WALES made history by beating the Springboks in South Africa for the first time with a dramatic win.
A late conversion from Gareth Anscombe following Josh Adams’ try was enough to claim a narrow victory in Bloemfontein, drawing the series level 1-1 heading into the decider at Cape Town.
Just a week after being denied at the death in Pretoria, it was the Welshmen’s turn to strike late against a secondstring Sprinkbok side.
Wales coach Wayne Pivac said: “It was a bit like last week hanging in at the end.
“Anscombe is a quality kicker, I have confidence in him, he missed one – but he got the one that mattered.
“The difference this week is we were more disciplined and didn’t concede as many penalties as last week – it allowed us to stay in the game.
“The boys were so keen to get the job done after last week, we thought we had done enough to win it.
“We’re disappointed we are not 2-0 up.
“Next week will be a huge challenge, it will make for a good series.
“It’s a big week for us now.”
The South Africans had promised to bury Wales in the series at a ground that has been described as a graveyard for opposition sides.
And they looked dead and buried against a Springboks team with 14 changes, thanks to four Handre Pollard penalties in a drab game.
But trailing 12-3, the visitors battled back and crossed with their only real try-scoring opportunity.
Red jerseys finally got some ascendancy as the minutes ticked away and worked good field position for the first time.
The forwards battered away and it created room in the far corner for Adams to go flying over.
Anscombe, on for the injured Dan Biggar, kicked a superb conversion to complete the turnaround.
Flanker Tommy Reffell said: “We talked about staying in the fight, we weathered the storm and we knew if we got possession and territory we could convert that to points.
“It shows the character we’ve got and the resilience to go right to the end.
“The playmakers made the calls and we went with it, we went wide and Josh had a lovely finish in the corner.
“We talked about putting pride back into the Welsh jersey, we’ve come here and showed what we’re all about.” SOUTH AFRICA: Pens:
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