South Africa ... 19 Wales ... 8 South Africa battled to victory in a fiercely contested, physical Test match in Cape Town on Saturday. The 11-point victory was enough for the home side to clinch the two-Test series 2-0 following their 34-19 victory in Bloemfontein a week ago.
Despite the loss, Wales coach Steve Hansen said he was satisfied with his side's performance during the series.
"We came here to grow as a team and we succeeded. We won the respect of our opponents and I couldn't have asked for more from the guys," Hansen said.
Wales captain Colin Charvis and his Springboks opposite Bob Skinstad also praised the Welsh for their performances.
"As a group we are disappointed at the result but we can hold our heads high because we never rolled over an inch," Charvis said.
Skinstad added: "The Welsh can be proud of what they achieved because they left a lot of experienced guys behind, like the Quinnell brothers and Chris Wyatt.
"If they are pleased and achieved what they set out to achieve then they should feel proud."
Persistent and occasionally heavy rain dictated the style of play, while a mass brawl, started by hookers James Dalton and Robin McBryde, but involving over half the players on the field, set the tone after just two minutes.
The first half was a dismal affair in which referee Tony Spreadbury made the players' attempts to keep the game flowing almost impossible.
Welsh outhalf Stephen Jones opened the scoring with a penalty midway through the first half, but it was cancelled out by his Springbok opposite, Andre Pretorius, six minutes later.
Despite being a man down after prop Willie Meyer was sin-binned for kicking, the home side managed to go into the break 8-3 ahead when full back Brent Russell exploited a gap down the left and scored in the corner after the halftime hooter sounded.
Charvis levelled the scores six minutes after the restart when his forwards drove over from a lineout close to the line.
In the final 13 minutes the Welsh pack, which had been dominant in the set pieces but were visibly tiring, gave away two silly penalties that allowed Pretorius to open a six-point lead.
The Springboks then applied more pressure, which was converted when debutant scrumhalf Craig Davidson charged a clearing kick down and dived on the ball for the match-clinching score.
SOUTH AFRICA: B Russell; S Terblanche, M Joubert, DW Barry, B Paulse; A Pretorius, J Conradie; D Human, J Dalton, W Meyer, Q Davids, J Labuschange, C Krige AJ Venter, B Skinstad (capt). Replacements: C Davidson for Conradie, F Rautenbach for Meyer (both 52 mins), Le Roux for Human (59 mins), Van Niekerk for Venter, Louw for Davids (both 63 mins).
WALES: K Morgan; R Williams, M Taylor, A Marinos, C Morgan; S Jones, D Peel; I Thomas, R McBryde, B Evans, G Llewellyn, S Williams, M Owen, M Williams, C Charvis (capt). Replacements: Powell for Peel (12 mins), Shanklin for Marinos, G Thomas for M Williams (both 67 mins), Sidoli for Llewellyn (70 mins) N Jenkins for Morgan, M Davies for McBryde (both 76 mins).
