Boks put Dragons to sword

The Welsh Dragons arrived with fire in their bellies and perhaps a tear in the eye as they remembered fallen heroes, but it was the passing of another opportunity to beat the Springboks that broke many a heart here yesterday.

The Boks again showed greater composure and out-muscled Wales in contrast to the grim portents that were spelt out so frequently for the visitors in the build-up to this test.

The Springboks rucked, mauled, jumped, in fact in every discipline that makes up the component parts of this game, the visitors stretched their bodies further than the hosts were prepared to.

Tellingly too, the Springboks also displayed a ruthless streak when opportunity presented itself and the first-half tries of captain Jean de Villiers and Bismarck du Plessis, and Fourie du Preez in the second half, served to put Wales more than an arm's length away. Advancements to the Boks' attacking game have reaped splendid dividends this year.

On that score, Bryan Habana is as sharp of mind and muscle as he was when he played the first of his 93 tests.

Wales, however, either did not listen or refused to buy into Bok improvements.

The vast Welsh optimism that had swept through the valleys to every nook and cranny in the south, had frankly, been misplaced. Of course the source of their rosy projections had less to do with Bok vulnerability, than their players' perceived advances in recent seasons.

The Boks put Wales in their place and in the context of this match that often meant on the turf. The Springboks relish the physical confrontation more than any other team on the planet, and while that doesn't necessarily guarantee victory, it certainly serves to dispirit and demoralise those on the receiving end.

Bismarck du Plessis, Willem Alberts and Duane Vermeulen exacted a great physical toll in the collisions, and the harder a Welshman ran at the Boks the harder he was delivered to terra firma.

Wales often fashioned line breaks but it speaks of the Springboks' resolve and fortitude that they scrambled and ultimately subdued the Welsh threat.

The intensity of the Boks defence meant there were times too when Wales were paralysed by indecision. The ferocity of the visitors' tackles and the influence at the breakdown of Francois Louw meant Wales, although full of endeavour, were not making the advances in territory and, ultimately, the scoreboard.

Worryingly though, the tourists were less than convincing in the scrums, where the Dragons gave Frans Malherbe the widely predicted baptism of fire. Overall however Malherbe acquitted himself well on debut but the scrums bordered on farcical as both sets of forwards routinely crashed to the ground. This was partly because of dodgy technique but this fine stadium deserves better turf.

The Boks also had Louw banished to the sin bin for gradually forcing his elbow onto the stricken hooker Richard Hibbard's throat. Louw momentarily departed the scene amid a cacophony of boos, the crowd fervently disagreeing with the colour of the card referee Alain Rolland produced from his pocket.

The Springboks also slipped tackles. Jonathan Davies ran through a few feeble attempts and the upshot was a first penalty for the hosts. A second line break from the same player four minutes later produced a similar result.

The Boks, however, replied with a try made in heaven. Habana skinned George North before offloading to Du Plessis who eventually found the outstretched arm of De Villiers.

The try brought wider repercussions. Centre Williams, who had made such an impressive start, had injured his shoulder, while namesake wing Liam, came off second best in the collision with the surging Du Plessis.

Mind you, somehow Morne Steyn did himself a mischief and he too departed the scene after converting the try. By the time Du Plessis wriggled over in the 17th minute, some Springboks fans endowed with rosy disposition chanted "olé, olé".

However, the dagger blow was only delivered only in the 64th minute when man-of-the-match Du Preez, in marvellous concert with Jaque Fourie, finally slew the Dragon.

SCORERS

Wales 15 - Penalties: Leigh Halfpenny (5)

South Africa 24 - Tries: Jean de Villiers, Bismarck du Plessis, Fourie du Preez. Conversions: Morne Steyn (2), Pat Lambie. Penalties: Steyn.