South Africa 43 Wales 17: Wales' Grand Slam heroes were brought hurtling back down to earth after hitting the self-destruct button in their opening Test against South Africa.

Full-back Jamie Roberts crossed in the 38th minute following a bulldozing run from Sonny Parker but his try only momentarily stemmed the Springboks onslaught.

Shane Williams offered further respite in the second half with a beautiful finish that left Bryan Habana sprawled on the turf, but the world champions were already out of sight.

Conrad Jantjes, Jean de Villiers, Pierre Spies and Percy Montgomery breached the fragile Welsh defence while the metronomic kicking of Butch James kept the scoreboard ticking over.

South Africa — who fielded a gargantuan pack and featured five survivors from their triumphant World Cup final last autumn — showed flashes of brilliance throughout.

But Wales were the main architects of their own downfall with an indisciplined display full of mistakes, handing Warren Gatland his first defeat since becoming head coach.

Gatland had talked all week about the need to earn the respect of the Springboks but Wales will not have fulfilled his wishes in sun-kissed Bloemfontein this afternoon.

Instead Wales' quest for a first victory on South African soil — they have now lost all seven meetings — must continue in Pretoria next weekend after today's eagerly-awaited showdown proved to be a major disappointment.

South Africa captain John Smit claimed Wales' pre-match promise to front up physically was all the motivation the Springboks needed.

"We heard about the physical onslaught that was going to be brought at us in the media and that was probably the biggest favour they could have done us," Smit said.

"We have got a lot of work to do. But I'm satisfied with the start — 43-17, you can't argue with that."