Etzebeth sees red as Boks inflict record defeat on Wales in Cardiff
MATCH REPORT: The Springboks ended their Nations Series campaign in emphatic fashion with a 73-0 win over Wales in Cardiff on Saturday.
It is Wales’ worst-ever defeat on some soil, and it has just compounded the woes Welsh rugby is suffering at the moment.
The gulf in class was massive as the Springboks dominated their opponents in all areas.
With the international window over, both teams entered the match without key players. However, Wales were never coming close to the Boks in the depth department.
Rassie Erasmus’ side scored a whopping 11 tries on their way to victory.
However, it ended on a sour note after Eben Etzebeth was given a red card for pushing his thumb in an opponent’s eye.
The Springboks’ power game came to the fore in the opening minutes, and after several powerful carries, prop Gerhard Steenekamp stretched over for a try in the ninth minute.
A few minutes later, the visitors were in again, and this time it was off first phase.
The ball went wide from a scrum, and Ethan Hooker was on hand to finish things off with a five-pointer.
Wales were really feeling the pressure at set-piece time, and they crumbled in a scrum near their own tryline, which allowed Bok No.8 Jasper Wiese to dot the ball down for a score in the 31st minute.
The Springboks got their fourth just before the break after scrumhalf Morne van den Berg caught the Wales defence’ napping by sniping for the tryline from a ruck. It all stemmed from a powerful run from centre Andre Esterhuizen.
At half-time it was 28-0 to the Boks.
There was more pain for the Welsh at the start of the second half as South Africa’s forwards did the job again with big carries, and this time it was Wilco Louw who found himself over the tryline.
Wales were also reduced to 14 men after Taine Plumtree was yellow-carded for his team’s repeated offside infringements.
A few minutes later, flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu took a quick-tap penalty and raced through Wales’ defence to score his team’s fifth try.
The sixth try came before the 50th-minute mark when Canan Moodie kicked a loose pass from Wales, and after some soccer skills, he regathered the ball to score the points.
Just when you thought it couldn’t get tougher for Wales, Erasmus unleashed his entire bench in the 52nd minute. It included Cobus Reinach, who was making his 50th appearance.
With some fresh legs on the field and some excellent handling, the ball went wide to Esterhuizen to run in for a try in the 54th minute.
Wales also had Aaron Wainwright sent to the sinbin for a high shot on Feinberg-Mngomezulu.
The Springbok flyhalf scored his second five-pointer not long after that before Ruan Nortje and Eben Etzebeth rubbed salt in Wales’ wounds with a try apiece in the final quarter.
However, Etzebeth is set to get a lengthy ban for his thumb in the eye in the final minute.
Man of the match: The award goes to Andre Esterhuizen, who was just immense in the midfield. He made some serious metres, and he was also rock solid on defence. He capped his performance with a try as well.
Moment of the match: Eben Etzebeth’s red card for pushing his finger in an opponent’s eye will be a big talking point over the next few days.
The scorers:
For Wales: None
For South Africa:
Tries: Steenekamp, Hooker, Wiese, Van den Berg, Louw, Feinberg-Mngomezulu 2, Moodie, Esterhuizen, Nortje, Etzebeth
Cons: Feinberg-Mngomezulu 9
Red card: Eben Etzebeth (South Africa, 79′ – foul play, eye-gouging)
Yellow cards: Taine Plumtree (Wales, 43′ – repeated infringements, offside); Aaron Wainwright (Wales, 54′ – foul play, high tackle)
Teams:
Wales: 15 Blair Murray, 14 Ellis Mee, 13 Joe Roberts, 12 Joe Hawkins, 11 Rio Dyer, 10 Dan Edwards, 9 Kieran Hardy, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Alex Mann, 6 Taine Plumtree, 5 Rhys Davies, 4 Ben Carter, 3 Keiron Assiratti, 2 Dewi Lake (captain), 1 Gareth Thomas.
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: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Ethan Hooker, 13 Damian de Allende, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Canan Moodie, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Morne van den Berg, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Franco Mostert, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp.
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.
Referee: Luc Ramos (France)
Assistant referees: Matthew Carley (England) and Pierre Brousset (France)
TMO: Eric Gauzins (France)
