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Wales

South Africa

Springboks down Wales

World Cup holders South Africa opened their November international season with a 20-15 victory over Wales. More

Live Commentary
Time:80'
- Wales
- South Africa
- 80' But the Boks steal the ball at the lineout again. The ball's fed back to Pienaar, who smacks the ball into touch to bring the match to an end. South Africa hold on to beat the Six Nations Grand Slam winners by 20-15.
- 79' Wales win a penalty in their own half as South Africa hold the ball up. Hook kicks the ball into touch. Is there time for the lineout? Yes, says the ref.
- 78' Wales win a scrum in their own half. But they mess it up, and the put-in is awarded to South Africa for the next scrum.
- 77' Pienaar goes for a drop goal, but it's nowhere near and Wales are able to keep the ball alive.
- 77' Bryne then knocks on a South Africa kick to give the visitors an attacking scrum.
- 77' But Matfield steals the ball at the lineout!
- 76' South Africa win the scrum and feed Pienaar, whio finds touch with his clearance. But this is an attacking platform for Wales at the lineout.
- 75' Smit is back on in place of Mujati.
- 74' Januarie makes a mistake in defence and Peel is almost in for a try. He hacks on the loose ball, but then pushes the ball forward on the floor. Scrum to South Africa. Relentless stuff here.
- 73' Fourie is back on the field - it's 15 each again.
- 72' Hook makes it - just! It hits the posts and bounces through the post to make it 20-15. Wales are within a score now!
- 71' But Wales are on the attack again. Shane Williams makes ten yards with some great work. And they win another penalty in the centre of the pitch just inside the Boks half. Hook will go for goal again.
- 68' South Africa are holding on to the ball and putting it slowly through the phases, which is exactly what they need to do with only 14 men on the pitch.
- 67' Smit has to go off because of a cut on his face. Mujati is the blood replacement.
- 65' It's South Africa's turn to put pressure on the Wales line now. But all the decisions are going their way, and Wales win a penalty in defence. Hook whacks the ball into touch.
- 63' It's a beautiful strike - and suddenly it's 20-12!
- 62' Fourie has only been on two minutes, but he's sent to the sin-bin for deliberately slowing down a Wales attack. The Boks have been doing that all match and the ref has now had enough. And Hook has a chance for another three points with a penalty wide on the left wing.
- 61' Wales are battering the South Africa line again now.
- 60' South Africa make a couple of changes in their backline. Du Preez and De Villiers come off for Januarie and Fourie.
- 58' And Hook makes this one too - it's 20-9 now.
- 57' Wales immediately win another penalty as South Africa deliberately slow the ball down. It's another chance for three points.
- 56' Hook takes over the kicking duties. He slots it to make it 20-6.
- 55' Bryne makes another great break through the South African backline. Wales put intense pressure on the South Africa line from the resulting passages of play, and eventually Wales are awarded a penalty in front of the posts.
- 54' Pienaar adds the conversion to extend the Boks lead to 20 points to 3.
- 53' A disastrous first touch for James Hook, whose telegraphed pass is intercept by De Villiers, who has the easiest of tasks to run 25 yards for the line and score the Boks' second try.
- 52' A flurry of subsitutions. Wales replace their half-backs, Cooper and Jones, with Hook and Peel. South Africa replace Spies with Kankowski.
- 51' A great chance to score a try for Wales there, but they couldn't take it.
- 50' Byrne makes a fantastic break on the left wing. He passes inside to Halfpenny but the winger drops the ball.
- 48' The game's going through a lull at the moment with neither side creating much.
- 45' Wales knock the ball on to concede a scrum, from which the Boks win the ball. Pienaar finds touch in the Wales half with his clearance.
- 44' Halfpenny sets Shanklin away in space on the right wing. The big centre is charging for the line, but he's caught and South Africa do brilliantly to tidy things up. Wales win a lineout just outside the South African 22.
- 42' Wales make a lively start as a kick and chase by Byrne sets up an attack for the hosts. But Wales are penalised for going over the top at the resulting ruck.
- 41' The teams are back out, and Stephen Jones kicks off to get us started again. South Africa have made a couple of changes - Steyn and Bekker are on for Jacobs and Botha.
- 40' And that's the last kick of the half - South Africa lead 13-3 at the break.
- 40' Halfpenny takes it again - but it drops just wide!
- 39' South Africa make a hash of the scrum. Wales are awarded a penalty. Will they go for goal? It's just inside the Boks half on the right.
- 38' The ball is bogged down in a maul in the centre of the pitch. It's slow ball for South Africa, and then they're awarded a scrum.
- 35' Pienaar makes the kick to extend the visitors' lead to ten points once again.
- 34' Wales immediately give away a penalty in their own half on the left for a lineout infringement.
- 33' But it's an easy decision for the video ref - Pienaar clearly dropped the ball as he reached for the line. Great play by South Africa to set up the chance though.
- 32' But South Africa suddenly burst into life. Pienaar is put through on the left wing. He stretches for the line - did he get the ball over the line? It's going to the video ref!
- 30' Wales are enjoying the bulk of possession at the moment.
- 28' Halfpenny makes the kick to get Wales on the scoreboard - 10-3 to the Boks now.
- 28' But Jones is struggling with an injury so Leigh Halfpenny is going to take it. A big moment for the youngster.
- 27' Great work in the ruck by Wales sees them win another kickable penalty in the centre of the pitch. Stephen Jones has to make this one, surely?
- 26' Welsh debutant Halfpenny makes a half-break on the left wing as Wales attack with purpose.
- 25' Wales win a free-kick because South Africa weren't straight as they went into a scrum just inside the Wales half.
- 23' But he's missed it. Wales really needed that.
- 22' Stephen Jones is going for the posts.
- 21' Shane Williams goes on a burst for Wales. He's hauled down, then South Africa give away a penalty for coming in at the side in the ruck.
- 19' Andy Powell makes a great run for the Boks line, breaking through a South African tackle. But there's more frustration for Wales as they're penalised for holding on as men come up in support. Penalty to the Boks, which Pienaar finds touch with.
- 17' Wales lose momentum as they give away a penalty for dangerous play.
- 15' Wales win a lineout on the left as they attack now. They finally get some time on the ball and eventually win a scrum just inside the 22.
- 14' The Springboks repel a Welsh attack from the lineout.
- 12' Some kicking tennis between the sides ends with a lineout to Wales just in front of the 22 in their own half.
- 10' The Welsh full-back Byrne does some good mopping up from a long kick forward that stopped near the Wales tryline.
- 8' Pienaar gets the distance on the kick to make it 10-0. Great start from the Springboks.
- 7' Oh dear. Now Wales have given away a kickable penalty in the centre of the field about 40 yards from the posts.
- 5' Pienaar adds the penalty from in front of the posts and it's 7-0 to the World Champions.
- 5' Try for South Africa. Good handling from Matfield and Burger sends the Boks towards the Wales line. A maul is formed and the ball's popped up for Jacobs, who drives over for an early try.
- 4' There's a bit of a spat going on by the touchline. It ends up with a scrum to the Boks.
- 3' The Boks take a short one but are pulled back as it hasn't gone five metres.
- 3' South Africa win a lineout on the left near the halfway line.
- 2' Pienaar hits an up and under that Powell, the No 8 making his debut for Wales, collects and calls mark.
- 1' Pienaar kicks off for the Boks to get us under way.
- - Now we're into the anthems. A lot of preamble going on at the Millennium Stadium, which has the roof on this afternoon.
- - There's a minute's silence coming up for Remembrance Day.
- - The teams are out on the pitch.
- - It'll be interesting to see how the two nations flying wingers - Shane Williams and Bryan Habana - get on today.
- - Gatland and assistant coach Shaun Edwards produced wonders with Wales last Six Nations as they led them to a Grand Slam. They must now prove that that form was not a flash in the pan with a victory over one of the southern hemisphere giants. They will also want to justify their recent appointment on to the British Lions coaching team by leading their side to victory.
- - The Boks have left out several European-based players for their tour, and have handed the fly-half role to Ruan Pienaar in the absence of rested Butch James. De Villiers has also asked his skipper John Smit to switch from hooker to tighthead prop to make way for the in-form Bismarck du Plessis. Bakkies Botha is named in the second row alongside Victor Matfield, despite a lack of match fitness.
- - South Africa coach Peter De Villiers is under pressure to produce decent results after his side finished bottom of the Tri-Nations. He must also show there was reason to some of his questionable selection decisions this year. Despite a disappointing Tri-Nations, the Boks have won their last three, following up a 53-8 demolition of Australia with back-to-back wins over Wales.
- - Wales lost both Tests in South Africa last summer but in the second game showed glimpses of the form that won them a Grand Slam in the last Six Nations. They have lost star centre Gavin Henson to an Achilles injury but otherwise are near full-strength. Warren Gatland has handed a debut cap to wing Leigh Halfpenny and number eight Andy Powell, while Jamie Roberts starts in the centre. Gareth Cooper is preferred at scrum-half to Dwayne Peel, while Matthew Rees starts at hooker in place of the injured Huw Bennett.
- - Good afternoon and welcome to Eurosport's text coverage of the Millennium Stadium clash between Six Nations champions Wales and world champions South Africa - the first of four Tests this month in Cardiff for Wales.

Summary

Wales	versus	South Africa
	Tries	Jacobs 6’, De Villiers 52’
	Conversions	Pienaar 7’, 53’
Halfpenny 30’, Hook 57’, 59’, 63’, 73’	Penalties	Pienaar 9’, 37’
	Drops

Live Team Line-Up

Wales

Manager: Warren Gatland

On the Field
- Jenkins
- Rees
- Jones
- Wyn Jones
- Evans
- Jones R.
- Williams
- Powell
- Cooper
- Jones
- Williams
- Shanklin
- Roberts
- Halfpenny
- Byrne
Subs
- Jones
- Peel
- Gough
- Jones
- Bishop
- Hook
- Hibbart
Injured

None

Suspended

None
South Africa

Manager: Peter De Villiers

On the Field
- Mtawarira
- du Plessis
- Smit
- Botha
- Matfield
- Burger
- Spies
- Smith
- du Preez
- Pienaar
- Habana
- De Villiers
- Jacobs
- Pietersen
- Jantjes
Subs
- Fourie
- Steenkamp
- Steyn
- Januarie
- Kankowski
- Bekker
- Mujati
Injured

None

Suspended

None