Wales 0-73 South Africa
Date:
Venue: Principality Stadium, Cardiff
Referee: Luc Ramos (France)
Attendance: 50,112
Wales v South Africa Match Reports
Wales fell to their biggest ever home defeat as a ruthless South Africa scored 11 tries in a 73-0 demolition in Cardiff. The Springboks kept the scoreboard ticking in a dominant first-half display that shut Wales out, with tries from Gerhard Steenekamp, Ethan Hooker, Jasper Wiese and Morne van den Berg giving them a commanding 28-0 lead at the break. The second half began in similar fashion, with Wilco Louw, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Canan Moodie all crossing in the space of six minutes. In a powerful statement of intent, South Africa then unloaded their entire bench in the 51st minute. Further tries from Andre Esterhuizen, Ruan Nortje and Eben Etzebeth – plus a second from Feinberg-Mngomezulu – capped a display of total dominance. The match ended on a sour note with Etzebeth shown a red card for an alleged eye gouge, but it did little to overshadow South Africa's emphatic performance. A selection of match reports is listed below:
- Autumn Internationals: Under-strength Wales suffer record defeat to world champions South Africa
- BBC: Pointless Wales humiliated by 11-try South Africa
- Guardian: Etzebeth red card mars South Africa demolition job as Wales slump to record home defeat
- Daily Mail: Wales MAULED by South Africa in 73-POINT drubbing as hosts fail to score in a home test for the first time since 1967
- Sky Sports: Springboks inflict record defeat on hosts in Cardiff to finish Autumn Nations Series
- WRU: Feinberg-Mngomezulu masterclass condemns Wales to heavy defeat
- SA Rugby: Boks finish season in style with massive win in Cardiff
Wales v South Africa - Match Highlights
Wales v South Africa - Match Stats
Wales (0) 0
South Africa (28) 73
Try: Steenekamp (9'), Hooker (14'), Wiese (31'), Van den Berg (40'+4), Lowe (43'), Feinberg-Mngomezulu (46', 63'), Moodie (49'), Esterhuizen (54'), Nortje (69') , Etzebeth (74')
Conversion: Feinberg-Mngomezulu (10', 15', 32', 40'+4, 44', 47', 50', 64', 70')
Red Card: Etzebeth (79')
Man of the match: Andre Esterhuizen (South Africa)
Wales v South Africa - Team Line-ups
Wales Team
Forwards
- 1 Gareth Thomas
- 2 Dewi Lake (Captain)
- 3 Keiron Assiratti
- 4 Ben Carter
- 5 Rhys Davies
- 6 Taine Plumtree
- 7 Alex Mann
- 8 Aaron Wainwright
Backs
- 9 Kieran Hardy
- 10 Dan Edwards
- 11 Rio Dyer
- 12 Joe Hawkins
- 13 Joe Roberts
- 14 Ellis Mee
- 15 Blair Murray
Replacements
- 16 Brodie Coghlan
- 17 Danny Southworth
- 18 Christian Coleman
- 19 James Ratti
- 20 Morgan Morse
- 21 Reuben Morgan-Williams
- 22 Callum Sheedy
- 23 Ben Thomas
South Africa Team
Forwards
- 1 Gerhard Steenekamp
- 2 Johan Grobbelaar
- 3 Wilco Louw
- 4 Jean Kleyn
- 5 Ruan Nortje
- 6 Siya Kolisi (Captain)
- 7 Franco Mostert
- 8 Jasper Wiese
Backs
- 9 Morne van den Berg
- 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu
- 11 Canan Moodie
- 12 Andre Esterhuizen
- 13 Damian de Allende
- 14 Ethan Hooker
- 15 Damian Willemse
Replacements
- 16 Bongi Mbonambi
- 17 Zachary Porthen
- 18 Asenathi Ntlabakanye
- 19 Eben Etzebeth
- 20 Marco van Staden
- 21 Ben-Jason Dixon
- 22 Kwagga Smith
- 23 Cobus Reinach

