The Springboks were in beast mode, dominant in every aspect of the Test match and supremely disciplined in dismantling a makeshift Welsh team through a record-breaking performance.
The 73-0 win was the biggest ever for the Boks against Wales in Cardiff, and the worst ever home defeat in Wales’s history.
The Springboks led 28-0 at half time, and scored their 54th point in the 54th minute and went past 60 in the 64th minute and 70 points with five minutes to play.
Replacement lock Eben Etzebeth, shown a straight red card in the 78th minute for a thumb to a Welsh eye, was the stain on what would have been Test match perfection from the Boks.
Even then, with the Boks 73 points ahead, these warriors from the Rainbow Nation scrapped to turn over the final Welsh attack and keep the hosts scoreless for the first time in 33 years.
Emphatic victories
It was a statement performance from the Boks in a month of statement performances as they finished November with emphatic triumphs from each of their five starts.
Both teams were without 13 selection options because the Test match, contractually confirmed in 2017, falls outside of the international window. Clubs have first rights to players, unless there’s an agreement between club and country.
The Boks, with the greater squad depth, were never in danger of losing their final Test of 14 this season, and they’d have had far tougher training sessions in the week.
The Principality Stadium is the most impressive of all rugby stadiums on this planet. The Welsh singing is without comparison in world rugby, and the pre-match ranks as highly.
If only Wales currently had players and a collective to match their magnificently plush home ground.
The Principality is a stadium befitting royalty, and right now, the Springboks are rugby’s royalty. They are the No 1 team in the world and the Castle Rugby Championship and the World Cup holders.
On-field intelligence
The first 40 minutes was a demonstration of calm from the world champions, brutality at the set piece, joy with ball in hand, and absolute on-field rugby intelligence in the decision-making.
The Boks enjoyed 63% possession and 74% field position in a first half in which they scored four tries, kept Wales scoreless, and restricted Wales to just one attacking option in the Boks half, which came in the 35th minute.
True to the one-sided nature of the contest, Wales overthrew the lineout and conceded a penalty. It summed up Welsh rugby’s plight, having won just two in their last 21 Tests, including this game.
The Bok scrum was purposeful and proud in suffocating the Welsh, and invariably each scrum feed produced a scrum penalty. The lineout functioned with equal dominance, and the Boks, so in charge from the outset, could showcase their attacking skills in the most controlled manner.
Props Wilco Louw and Gerhard Steenekamp benefitted from the picks and drives with popular tries; lock Franco Mostert played with the enthusiasm of a player on debut, and in the centres Andre Esterhuizen and Damian de Allende were as powerful as the Bok props.
Behemoth in every situation
Esterhuizen, the Player of the Match, was a behemoth in every contact situation, be it taking the ball up or winning breakdown turnovers.
Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu delighted at flyhalf, continuing his habit of scoring tries this Test season, and right winger Ethan Hooker was imposing with ball in hand and was colossal under the high ball.
The Boks could so easily have been seduced into playing too wide too soon because of the mismatch, but not these mature, decisive, and magically talented South Africans.
The composure, potency, and accuracy of these Boks must be emphasised. Within eight minutes of the second half, the Boks had added three tries and 21 points to be 49-0 ahead, and just when Wales thought it could not get worse, they were reduced to 13 players.
As the Welsh duo departed, the entire Springboks substitute’s bench of eight was introduced to administer the final rites on a night when the Welsh dragon was slain in brutal and record-breaking style.
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