Wales - 16 South Africa - 33: Shock and awe. Shock, in the words of the Wales coach Mike Ruddock, at the revelation in Friday's Guardian that his is not an entirely happy camp, awe from the Cardiff crowd at the speed and vision of the Springbok wing Bryan Habana, whose two early tries and key role in a third ensured that this highly physical contest bore no resemblance to last year's cliffhanger.
This was not as close a contest as the scoreline suggested, and the grand slam winners were flattered by the fact that the outcome was not settled until Conrad Jantjes's 58th-minute try opened a 12-point gap. Had Percy Montgomery had his kicking boots on to land two early penalties and a conversion, the Springboks would have been cruising by half-time.
Happy or not, Ruddock's side have a more fundamental problem to resolve: the incisive passing that took them to the grand slam has gone and their nervous fingers had nothing to do with the freezing fog seeping up off the Bristol Channel. In 240 minutes of rugby this autumn Wales have been unable to score tries against a full complement. Ceri Sweeney's late touchdown came while Montgomery was off the field for a second high tackle on Shane Williams, a harsh decision by the referee Stuart Dickinson.
"It's a concern," admitted Ruddock, whose side face Australia this Saturday. "We put South Africa under pressure but were unable to sustain it. We weren't able to hold the ball long enough to find an opening. That is the framework of our play, going five or six phases and opening up the defence."
Ruddock also expressed displeasure with his prop Chris Horsman, who was sin-binned in the second half for throwing a punch at his opposite number CJ van der Linde. "I had a one-to-one with the player. He was warned before the game that his discipline was important and I feel he has let us down. He was told about that. It is important we don't make it an ongoing thing."
"We are half a yard off it in all our games," said the back-row Martyn Williams, and Sweeney pointed to an influx of unfamiliar faces. "Prior to this week, training wasn't as good as it should have been. New people have come in and perhaps they aren't used to the players they are playing with. Training was better this week and it showed this evening."
On Saturday they at least appeared to have rediscovered some of the exuberance that characterised their Six Nations campaign, with Colin Charvis a tower of strength in the back row and Stephen Jones threatening at outside-half. But their lack of precision meant Ruddock was forced to return to the bad old days in which Wales coaches praised players' effort while ruing their lack of efficiency.
Precisely what White said to Habana this week is unclear. "Sometimes as a coach you have to make some players appreciate what they have" was all he would venture, noting his body language had been transformed since his last outing against Argentina.
The youngster exuded hunger for the ball as he took his international tally to 15 tries from 14 caps and put in the chip-ahead for Jantjes's try. The score was made by Bosman, who showed his lack of nerve in scooping up, at full tilt, a bobbling ball from Victor Matfield, almost simultaneously producing the perfect pass to Habana, a moment of vision and precision highlighting what their hosts have lost.
WALES: Byrne (Sweeney 54); James, G Thomas (capt), Parker (Watkins 60), S Williams; S Jones, Cooper (Phillips 69); D Jones, R Thomas (Davies 63), Horsman (A Jones 62), Gough, Sidoli, Charvis, M Williams, Owen. Try: Sweeney. Con: S Jones. Pens: S Jones 3. Sin-bin: Horsman, 53.
SOUTH AFRICA: Montgomery; Jantjes (Russell 73), Fourie, De Villiers (Barry 73), Habana; Bosman, Claassens; Sephaka (Du Randt 36), Smit (capt), Van der Linde, Botha (Rossouw 69), Matfield, Burger, Smith, Cronje. Tries: Habana 2, Jantjes, Rossouw. Cons: Bosman 2. Pens: Montgomery 3. Sin-bin: Montgomery, 51. Sent off: Montgomery, 71. Attendance: 73,480.
Referee: S Dickinson (Australia).
Guardian Service
