Wales won more than just the match
REACTION: It was not only the scoreboard that favoured Wales in their 22-20 win over South Africa in Washington at the weekend.
Coach Warren Gatland believes his young players showed Welsh rugby has a bright future, after they held on to secure a dramatic victory over South Africa at Washington’s RFK Stadium.
The game in the American capital had its critics, with both sides fielding inexperienced line-ups ahead of their Test series with Argentina and England respectively.
A penalty from Robert du Preez looked to have given the South Africans victory, but the replacement flyhalf then had two consecutive attempted clearance kicks charged down by Tomos Williams – Ryan Elias pounced to win the game.
“Who would want to be a coach?” Gatland said.
“The end was dramatic and maybe our game management could have been better, but I thought we played well in the first half.
“The young guys will take a lot from this and there will be a lot of learning from them moving forwards.
“I thought captain Ellis Jenkins was outstanding and so was Tomos Williams.
“There are a couple of things to work on, but we are looking forward to going to Argentina now which will be a big step up for us.”
Skipper Jenkins added: “The guys showed great determination to see out the game and the main positive is the caps and experience some of our younger guys got from the game.
“It’s a Test match and the atmosphere was very good.
“Everything we’ve heard surrounding this game was very positive and we’re really pleased to get the result.”
The only downside for Wales was an injury to Steffan Evans which required a scan.
“Steff hyper-extended his knee and we’ll have to have a look at that on a scan,” Gatland said.
“It doesn’t look brilliant, but we’ll just have to wait and see.
“The heat out there was something we’ll experience in Japan at the World Cup next year and that will be a big benefit to us moving forwards.”
AFP
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