Autumn Internationals/Wales - 36 South Africa - 38: Even for a side dripping with as much latent talent as these young Springboks there will be surprises in store on their whirlwind tour around the bearpits of Britain and Ireland. South Africa's coach Jake White has briefed his players on the weather, the stadiums and the softer pitches of Europe but the shrewdest gurus can still be undone by the kind of elementary detail that almost cost the Boks on Saturday.
From where White sat, everything seemed pretty much under control as the stadium clock ticked into the 80th minute. His side was comfortably ahead and he had even taken the liberty of throwing on several inexperienced youngsters for the last couple of minutes. Imagine his horror, therefore, when the awful truth dawned: unlike the southern hemisphere, where game clocks and hooters are de rigueur, there were still eight minutes of added time left to play.
Whatever happens on the rest of the Boks' home nations voyage, White will not endure a more uncomfortable countdown, the excellent Dwayne Peel scoring Wales's third try to help drag them back to within a drop-goal of victory.
"I really put myself under pressure," sighed the coach, acknowledging he should not have been so quick to replace Os du Randt with Hanyani Shimange or introduce Tim Dlulane or Michael Claassens for their debut appearances. "If I'd known there was eight minutes left, maybe I'd have left the starting guys on." It turned out all right for White in the end but Wales's grandstand finish was a salutary reminder that rugby life north of the equator differs from the high veldt where they do not measure time by sundial or the whim of referees. There is every prospect of these Boks getting considerably better before they depart these shores but a similar disdain for their hosts' resilience will backfire this weekend if wind and rain sweep across Lansdowne Road. This is a team awash with self-belief that needs to take care about running before it can walk.
South Africa have the players - particularly in the back five of the scrum - to beat anyone but they remain unaccustomed tourists and have still to absorb the street wisdom that sets truly great sides apart. That said, Joe van Niekerk and Victor Matfield are currently world XV certainties and Schalk Burger would be pretty damn close, assuming he remains on the field long enough on this tour to showcase his talent.
It was Burger's departure to the sin-bin just before half-time that allowed Wales a foothold that had seemed improbable after 30 minutes when they trailed 23-6 to eye-catching tries from Jaco van der Westhuyzen and Van Niekerk, the latter score stemming from a glorious break by Percy Montgomery 60 metres back upfield.
Gavin Henson's two tries certainly capped a promising game for the centre, the first dragging his side back to 23-22 down in the 47th minute with Burger still absent. Without further sharp tries by Jean de Villiers and Montgomery there might have been a truly extraordinary climax.
WALES: G Thomas (capt); H Luscombe (T Shanklin, 64), S Parker, G Henson, S Williams (C Sweeney, 70); Stephen Jones, D Peel; Duncan Jones (G Jenkins 60); Steve Jones (M Davies 76), A Jones, M Cockbain, M Owen, Dafydd Jones (Charteris, 62), C Charvis (M Williams, 76), R Jones.
SOUTH AFRICA: P Montgomery; B Paulse, M Joubert (Claassens, 80), D W Barry, A Willemse (De Villiers, 55); J Van der Westhuyzen (Russell, 68), F Du Preez; O Du Randt (Shimange, 78), J Smit (capt), E Andrews (Van der Linde, 60), B Botha, V Matfield, S Burger (Dlulane, 78), J Smith, J Van Niekerk. Sin-bin: Burger 40.
Referee: P O'Brien (New Zealand).
