For the first time in its history, Wales won in South Africa thanks to a try from Josh Adams at the very end of the match (12-13).
After Ireland, it is Wales that is on the rise in the Southern Hemisphere! A few hours after the first Irish success in New Zealand, it was Wayne Pivac’s players who defeated the Indian sign in South Africa. A week after their defeat in the first test match of the tour, the Welsh were able to take their revenge at the end of a closed and hung meeting, which was for a long time a duel of scorers. From the 2nd minute, Dan Biggar set the tone by sanctioning the very first South African foul, committed at the kick-off. Handré Pollard was quick to respond for the reigning world champions, however, improving an offside position from a Welsh defense under pressure.
Dan Biggar could have restored the advantage to XV du Leek but his attempt of more than 50 meters as the quarter of an hour approached was not crowned with success. In the aftermath, Alex Cuthbert was forced to give up his place to Josh Adams through injury. The Welsh scrum having made a mistake, Handré Pollard was not successful 47 meters from the posts. While the Springboks had possession of the ball and occupied the pitch, the score did not move until half-time.
Surely the tweet of the day!
Am ymdrech anferthol / what a colossal effort #SAvWAL pic.twitter.com/EOhvoZtQwO— Welsh Rugby Union 🏉 (@WelshRugbyUnion) July 9, 2022
Adams snatches victory
However, three minutes after the restart and after a foul by Marvin Orie, the future Leicester Tigers goalscorer put South Africa ahead on the scoreboard for the first time in the game. Which Dan Biggar failed to answer in the next minute. The South African striker, meanwhile, investigated to offer his team a six-point lead just under half an hour from the end of the match. A gap which then reached nine units when, after a tackle without the ball which earned Alun Wyn Jones a yellow card, Handré Pollard did not miss the target. Managing to resist the charges of the Springboks during these ten minutes in numerical inferiority, the Welsh were able to get closer to six lengths thanks to Gareth Anscombe then the latter missed the mark at the start of the last ten minutes.
Sensing that there was something to play for, the Leek XV pushed to the end and it ended up paying off. Two minutes from the siren, after a long possession streak, Josh Adams was found cornered on the left wing to flatten the first and only try of the game. In a difficult position, Gareth Anscombe found the target and put Wales in front. Taking everything for granted, the South Africans made a mistake on a forward, sealing the fate of the meeting. After eleven defeats, the Welsh sign their very first victory in South Africa (12-13) and will have the opportunity to confirm next weekend.
