Cape Town — The Cape Town Stadium is almost made for a party, and while the Springboks were far from perfect against Wales, there were enough good signs for the South African fans to leave the grand arena with smiles on their faces on Saturday night.
The final score was 30-14 to the Boks, but it could so easily have been 50-14.
It was a much better performance from Jacques Nienaber’s side compared to the first two Tests, as they at least tried to take the game to the Welsh instead of just playing off their mistakes.
undefinedAnd they made sure that they didn’t allow history to be rewritten for a second week in a row as they denied the Welsh a first ever series win in South Africa.
After a couple of early ill-advised kicks that wasted possession, the Boks played with much greater purpose on attack. They managed to get inside Wales’ half and 22 on a number of occasions, and tried hard to cross the whitewash in the opening 40 minutes.
But the problem was that they lacked variety with ball-in-hand. Too often we saw No 8 Jasper Wiese charging away like a runaway truck at the Welsh defence, but then coming up short or being knocked down.
While there is no doubt that the Leicester Tigers loose forward makes good ground, he overdid the pick-and-go tactic, and he was eventually replaced by Kwagga Smith before halftime. If Wiese wants to be the first-choice No 8 going forward, he must add some flavour to his skill-set.
undefinedAnd despite the several 22 entries, the Boks could only muster 10 points in the first half. Time and time again the ball was either lost in contact, the wrong option was taken or a questionable grubber was attempted, which was snaffled up by the defence.
Flyhalf Handre Pollard was more influential with ball-in-hand than in Bloemfontein, and there was a more visible attacking shape from the home side, with scrumhalf Jaden Hendrikse clearing much quicker from the base.
But the South Africans needed to convert that pressure into points, but all they had to show for it was a Pollard try, conversion and penalty at the break.
Losing Cheslin Kolbe to what looked like a jaw injury in the 21st minute did affect the Bok rhythm, as Willie le Roux came on at fullback and a rejigged backline saw Damian Willemse at No 12, Damian de Allende at No 13 and Lukhanyo Am at right wing.
🇿🇦 The Springboks get the job done in Cape Town.
— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) July 16, 2022
They win the third Test against Wales 30-14 and take the three-match series 2-1. #RSAvWAL pic.twitter.com/TseKaFEmTn
Am and Makazole Mapimpi were full of running on a warm evening at the Cape Town Stadium, but again, the finishing wasn’t quite up to scratch.
The major positive for the Boks was the powerful display from the pack, who honoured Eben Etzebeth and Bongi Mbonambi for their 100th and 50th caps respectively by dominating in the scrums and lineouts.
The front row of Trevor Nyakane, Mbonambi and Frans Malherbe earned several penalties, and Wales were fortunate to not receive a yellow card for repeated infringements.
The Boks should never have allowed the Welsh to claw their way back to 17-14 in the second half through a slew of Dan Biggar penalties, but once captain Siya Kolisi forced his way over to send the spectators into a frenzy with about 25 minutes to go, the victory was all but secured at 24-14.
undefinedSo, job done on the night and the series win in the bag, but Nienaber and Co will know that the Boks still have a long way to go to be at their best.
They still need to fine-tune their execution on attack ahead of the Rugby Championship, with a wounded All Blacks ready to pounce on August 6 at the Mbombela Stadium.
But for now, the party will be continuing long into the night in the streets of Cape Town and beyond!
Point-scorers
Springboks 30 – Tries: Handre Pollard, Bongi Mbonambi, Siya Kolisi. Conversions: Pollard (3). Penalties: Pollard (3).
Wales 14 – Try: Tommy Reffell. Penalties: Dan Biggar (3).
IOL Sport