Springboks

LIVE scoring and interactive commentary on the first Test between South Africa and Wales from Loftus Versfeld.

Follow all the action from the opening Test match between the Springboks and Wales with our live blog below.

It's going to be a full house at the 52,000 capacity Loftus Versfeld with today's first Test in Pretoria a complete sell out. I can see them starting the game in their traditional way by looking for penalties from set-pieces and turning the Welsh with their kicking. They had second row Darcy Swain red carded for a headbutt in retaliation to hair-pulling from his opposite number Johnny Hill on 34 minutes. Before the anthems, a moment of silence in respectful memory of former Wales and Lions captain Phil Bennett who died last month. We've had the anthems and it's now time for the game to get underway. Wales coach Wayne Pivac said: "He has been a legend of the game, respected worldwide. The predatory Rees-Zammit was the first to react, hacking on and collecting the ball on the bounce to race over. The centre collided with Elton Jantjies as they both went for the ball and it spilled to the ground. They spoil a South African lineout and second row Will Rowlands charges up the left. A double tackle by Taulupe Faletau and Dan Lydiate on Springboks prop Fran Malherbe, who tips over to the ground head first. A second touchdown for Louis Rees-Zammit who wins the race after kicking on a loose ball. That means a return to the fray for fellow tighthead Dillon Lewis.

Lydiate and centre George North return to international rugby after more than a year away from the Test match arena because of serious knee injuries. Head coach ...

And soon after the South Africa hooker is over! Penalty to the Springboks for holding on and another visit to the Wales 22. Dan Biggar is again spoken to about his team’s discipline. The tighthead is helped on to a cart to be taken off, head and neck protected. The conversion is missed. Jones is joined among the replacements by fellow British and Irish Lions player Josh Navidi, with Tomos Williams providing scrum-half cover for Kieran Hardy.

Damian Willemse slotted a penalty after the hooter to see the Springboks come from a 15-point half-time deficit and beat Wales in the Test series opener in ...

In the end, a break from Lukhanyo Am put the Boks in Welsh territory and Biggar was penalised for an intentional knock-down. That left it all to Willemse and he confidently stepped up and pointed to the poles. They were clinical in the first half, striking through a well-taken double from speedster Louis Rees-Zammit, both tries coming off turnover ball.

Utility back Damian Willemse slotted a last minute penalty to help the Springboks beat Wales in the first Test at Loftus Versfeld in Tshwane on Saturday.

But yet again the Boks gave away a penalty from the restart and Wales had the opportunity to win the game when they kicked to the corner. The Boks snatch the victory at the death courtesy of a pressure penalty goal by Damian Willemse. It ends 32-29 to South Africa after 80 minutes of very tough Test rugby. A major talking point before the match was the selection of flyhalf Elton Jantjies ahead of Handre Pollard, who had arrived late in camp after playing in the French Top 14 final. Instead of hitting the ground running, the Boks started with a resounding splat. Hooker Dewi Lake drove over, only for Biggar to miss the conversion, and that proved the platform for the Boks to win a penalty and for Willemse to kick them to glory. 🥳 What a game!

A Louis Rees-Zammit try three minutes into first Test in Pretoria gives Wales an early lead over the world champions South Africa.

Willemse made no mistake and it was heartbreak yet again for Wales in South Africa. The Boks needed just six minutes in the second half to score their first try. He kicked ahead, collected the ball and touched down. He now averages a try nearly every two games for his country. From the penalty, South Africa set a maul from a five-metre lineout and were awarded a penalty try, with Rhys Carre shown yellow for collapsing the maul, which meant Wales were reduced to 12 players for a couple of minutes. Rees-Zammit’s first opportunity came after Will Rowlands had disrupted a South Africa lineout.

The Springboks overcame a 15-point half-time deficit to beat Wales in the opening of three Tests at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Saturday.

Damian Willemse slotted the match-winning penalty to clinch a 32-29 win to give South Africa a 1-0 lead in the three match test series.

The Boks snatch the victory at the death courtesy of a pressure penalty goal by Damian Willemse. It ends 32-29 to South Africa after 80 minutes of very tough Test rugby. What a game! Damian Willemse slotted the match-winning penalty to clinch a 32-29 win to give South Africa a 1-0 lead in the three match test series.

Follow the live action as the Springboks take on Wales at Loftus Versfeld in the first match of their three-Test series.

Stand-in kicker Damian Willemse landed a penalty after the final hooter to edge Wales 32-29 in a thrilling first test on Sunday that so nearly brought the ...

We have to dust ourselves off and go harder next week." The Welsh silenced them early. "It was a big step up form our last performance but the discipline is clearly disappointing. "I'm gutted. Rees-Zammit scored the first try in the third minute as Wales stole a South Africa lineout and went from the far left of the field to the far right to create an overlap for Rees-Zammit to run in unchallenged. But Wales, which was down to 12 men at one point with three players in the sin-bin in the final minutes, somehow found enough grit to score from its own rolling maul and force South Africa to scramble desperately for a victory.

Lake powers over from a maul, pressure on Biggar to potentially seal Wales' first ever win on South African soil. The pressure seeps through, he clips it wide.

It's been scrappy from the hosts with another spillage from South Africa leading to the first scrum. The pandemic has prevented them from attending matches in South Africa of late. South Africa had a prolonged time in attack but Wales have once again forced the hosts to kick the ball away. Ten of the World Cup squad start against Wales in Pretoria. South Africa win it back as Hardy delays his put in, Kolisi pushed the scrum-half afterwards with Biggar having a few choice words for his opposition skipper. The kick from Jantjies goes dead though, the fly-half having a rough start to this, and so there's a Wales scrum. South Africa win a penalty as Elias holds on at the breakdown. Wales had full control in the first half, blowing South Africa away. South Africa are on the hunt for another try now, it is tense in Pretoria! Kolbe knocked the ball forward but the ref was playing an advantage in South Africa's favour. South Africa defend it perfectly though as they push them into touch. Kolbe made a great break and South Africa could taste blood.

Damien Willemse snatched victory at the death against Wales by slotting a penalty after full-time to give the Springboks first blood in the first of three ...

“We had to chase the game at times. Speaking post-match, Captain Kolisi said the Springboks will have to bring the intensity from the word go in the second test in Bloemfontein. Damien Willemse snatched victory at the death against Wales by slotting a penalty after full-time to give the Springboks a 32-29 victory over Wales and first blood in the first of three test series.

Stand-in kicker Willemse successful with late penalty at Loftus Versfeld after Wales shock the world champions with dominant first half.

We have to dust ourselves off and go harder next week.” The Welsh silenced them early. “It was a big step up form our last performance but the discipline is clearly disappointing. Rees-Zammit scored the first try in the third minute as Wales stole a South Africa lineout and went from the far left of the field to the far right to create an overlap for Rees-Zammit to run in unchallenged. But Wales, which was down to 12 men at one point with three players in the sin-bin in the final minutes, somehow found enough grit to score from its own rolling maul and force South Africa to scramble desperately for a victory. The penalty try from a lineout maul which was collapsed gave South Africa the lead for the first time only in the 75th minute, at 29-24.

Springbok captain Siya Kolisi admitted Wales, who they narrowly beat at Loftus, got under their skin, which threw their focus from their core strengths.

"They did what they wanted to do in the first half. "Some of them felt a little bit harsh. There was no dirty play or anything; we were just being confrontational and that's what worked for us in the first half. "We've got to look at ourselves first. We know what we're capable of and we stuck to it. "Things weren't going our way in the first half.

To borrow some Star Wars parlance, the dramatic first Test between the Springboks and Wales at Loftus ultimately turned out to be an occasion where two Jedi ...

Social media is an unforgiving place and there was no where to hide for Springboks flyhalf Elton Jantjies - who was heavily...

The totally unbiased official Stormers account wrote: “You want Damian Willemse on your team every time. In stark contrast, Willemse was having his praises sung from all and sundry. Goal kicking. Line kicking. Goal kicking. In wild contrast, his replacement shone.

Wales failed to break their spell in losing critical games against the Springboks after Damian Willemse finally wore a Springbok shirt that fits, ...

Wales captain Dan Biggar admits his side losing out 32-29 to a brilliant Springbok comeback is a “missed opportunity” ot beat the World Champions.

Four yellow cards is a pretty tough one to take, but that is how it panned out and unfortunately we didn’t quite get across the line. “That is exactly what you want from a Test match – you want it aggressive and abrasive. We wanted to get in amongst it and not take a backward step. It was a definite missed opportunity. The first-half execution by Wales was excellent, and for the most part, the Springboks were poor but made an impressive comeback to win. The ball has just hit my hand, as opposed to me slapping it down.

Springboks coach Jacques Nienaber is happy with his team's second-half comeback to claim a 32-29 win over Wales at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

We wanted it to work at the beginning and it didn’t, but in the end it got us through.” “To score 29 points in the second half was great. “I’d much rather focus on the second half,” Nienaber said.