'It was pretty embarrassing'
2008-06-07 19:07
Bloemfontein - World Champions South Africa made an impressive start under new coach Peter de Villiers with a comfortable 43-17 win against Wales on Saturday.
The Boks, with several World Cup stars starting the match, scored four tries to Wales' two, and it was Bath flyhalf Butch James who led the assault with four conversions and five penalties.
Wales, the reigning Six Nations champions, looked out of their depth on the highveld and will have to improve significantly if they are to be a factor at Pretoria next week.
Coach Warren Gatland admitted his side were outplayed by the World Champions. "Frankly, it was pretty embarrassing," said Gatland. "Our handling and discipline was poor. They deserved to win and we just weren't good enough."
De Villiers was understandably pleased with the result. "It wasn't easy going for us, but I'm very happy. The guys didn't look so good early on, but they picked themselves up in the second half.
"We'll bank this one and live from here. But there is some hard work ahead of us."
Three-pointers
James returned to the national team and quickly made his presence felt with two early strikes, handing the home side a deserved 6-0 lead.
Wales No 10 Stephen Jones pulled one back before James added two further three-pointers for a 12-3 lead for the Boks.
Neither side managed a decent try scoring opportunity in the opening quarter, with the visitors' space shut down by an impressive Bok backline, while the De Villiers' team found rugby under the old' laws a lot more restrictive than they've been accustomed to.
The majority of the Boks have been playing under the Experimental Law Variations (ELVs) used in the Super 14 competition, which promotes expansive play.
The Boks battled in the little space they were allowed by the men from Wales.
It took the world champions all of 30 minutes to find a way past the visitors. Fullback Conrad Jantjes finishing off a good move in which centre Adrian Jacobs and flanker Luke Watson featured prominently.
James added the extras for a handy 19-3 lead to the Boks. The Welsh hit back through Jamie Roberts, who was on debut, when he crossed in the left corner.
Converted from the touchline
The fullback was set up by his centre Sonny Parker, but only after winger Shane Williams had giving the visitors some impetus when he joined the line and beat a few defenders with his nifty footwork.
Jones converted from the touchline, but the Boks restored their advantage with a fifth James penalty on the stroke of half-time with the score at 22-10.
The Boks took full control of the contest after the restart when Jean de Villiers and Pierre Spies crossed for tries two and three, both converted by James, before Shane Williams scored a second try for his side after beating Bryan Habana with a wonderful side-step.
South Africa though, with all their bench players on the field at the end, including World Cup stars Victor Matfield and Percy Montgomery, finished the stronger of the outfits and it was Montgomery who scored his team's fourth try.
James, with four conversions and five penalties, was named man of the match. Springbok skipper John Smit said the victory was a "good first step" under the new coach.
"We had very little time to prepare after the Super 14 and I think the progress we've made is phenomenal. We're a new team with a new coach and to start the year like this is great," he said.