South Africa cruised to a predictably emphatic 45-12 victory over struggling Wales to finish their Autumn Nations Series campaign on a high note on Saturday.
Tries from Franco Mostert, Eben Etzebeth, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Elrigh Louw, Aphelele Fassi, Gerhard Steenekamp and Jordan Hendrikse saw the Springboks to victory.
For Wales this is their 12th Test defeat on the spin as the pressure continues to mount on under-fire head coach Warren Gatland following a difficult year at the helm.
The gulf in quality was evident right from the first whistle as the Springboks raced into a 12-0 inside eight minutes thanks to tries from lock duo Mostert and Etzebeth.
The former’s score was created thanks to South Africa dominating the physical exchanges and after Cheslin Kolbe was tackled, Mostert hit a wonderful angle off Jaden Hendrikse to stroll over the whitewash. Jordan Hendrikse added the conversion as the Springboks put down an early marker at the Principality Stadium.
Not to be outdone, his second-row partner Etzebeth was next to cross as he combined superbly with Arendse on the left wing before adding his name to the board.
It was relentless and could have been much worse for the struggling Welsh had Siya Kolisi and Fassi not been held up over the try-line on either side of an Ardendse try.
Kolisi was denied again on 33 minutes after the officials spotted a spillage from Jaden Hendrikse at the base of a ruck as Wales looked to be living on borrowed time.
And so it proved as following utter scrum dominance from the Springboks, flanker Louw picked and went from close range to claim his side’s fourth try of the evening.
To their credit Wales did manage to end the half with some points on the board as Rio Dyer’s courageous score on the right wing gave them a glimmer of hope at 26-5.
There was no score in the opening 14 minutes of the second half with replacements being made during that time, with a new Bok front-row amongst those emerging.
But the lean spell was ended on 54 minutes when a lovely dummy and then pass from Arendse handed Fassi a clear run-in to the line for an unconverted try for 31-5.
That once again opened the floodgates for the Springboks as replacement prop Steenekamp was next to cross from close range, with Jordan Hendrikse adding the two.
The Bok fly-half was the next to put his name on the try-scoring sheet when he collected a lovely offload from Cobus Reinach before nailing the difficult conversion.
But Wales and their fans will be buoyed by how they finished the game and for those who had not made an early exit from the stadium, they saw James Botham claim a deserved try that was converted by Ben Thomas, which ended a one-sided game.
The teams
Wales: 15 Blair Murray, 14 Josh Hathaway, 13 Max Llewellyn, 12 Ben Thomas, 11 Rio Dyer, 10 Sam Costelow, 9 Ellis Bevan, 8 Taine Plumtree, 7 Jac Morgan, 6 James Botham, 5 Christ Tshiunza, 4 Will Rowlands, 3 Archie Griffin, 2 Dewi Lake, 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements: 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Kemsley Mathias, 18 Keiron Assiratti, 19 Freddie Thomas, 20 Tommy Reffell, 21 Rhodri Williams, 22 Eddie James, 23 Owen Watkin
South Africa: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Jordan Hendrikse, 9 Jaden Hendrikse, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Elrigh Louw, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Thomas du Toit
Replacements: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Marco van Staden, 20 RG Snyman, 21 Cameron Hanekom, 22 Cobus Reinach, 23 Handre Pollard
Referee: Karl Dickson (England)
Assistant Referees: Christophe Ridley (England), Damian Schneider (Argentina)
TMO: Andrew Jackson (England)
