Test debutant Craig Davidson charged down a desperate clearance kick to score in the corner and secure a 19-8 win for the Springboks over Wales at a miserable Newlands on Saturday.
Having ground out an 8-3 at the break, the South Africans withstood a formidable Welsh fightback in the second half before Davidson sealed the win, and the series 2-0, by flinging himself at Colin Charvis’ clearance attempt.
Prior to that though the Welsh looked quite capable of snatching a victory in atrocious conditions that neither side had mastered. The visitors had clawed their way back to 8-8 and were only denied the lead by a series of ferocious tackles, most notably those made by Marius Joubert and Davidson.
As was the case in Bloemfontein last week, the Springboks did not, as expected, come out and dominate from the first whistle.
No doubt the persistent rain caused a change in the game plan the Boks would have preferred to have employed, but even so skipper Bob Skinstad’s attempt at a quick drop was odd.
The No 8 pulled the attempt left but almost before it had landed, a fight on the side of the field had broken out.
The scuffle was a taste of things to come in a half more noteworthy for its bad temper than its skill.
That poor discipline would lead directly to the first points almost twenty minutes later. AJ Venter had leapt over the loose ruck and had hauled replacement scrumhalf Ryan Powell to the ground.
Powell did not have the ball and Stephen Jones was able to slot his first attempt between the posts.
The homeside’s problems were compounded three minutes later when Willie Meyer was sin-binned for stamping. Crucially, the Boks conceded neither territory or points in the 10-minute period.
Instead Andre Pretorius was able to level matters with a 40 metre penalty. Despite being a man down, the Boks began piecing together a number of powerful rolling mauls, more often than not spearheaded by James Dalton.
The net result was that Wales failed to capitalise on their numerical supremacy. When Meyer returned to the fray, the visitors were made to pay for their lack of success.
The Boks surged forward in waves and, after a lengthy build up, Brent Russell knifed through the stretched defence and slid over for the opening try.
Russell, apart from looking somewhat vulnerable under the high ball, went some distance in vindicating his surprising selection at fullback with that score.
The try also mirrored what happened in Bloemfontein where the Welsh undid much of their solid work by conceding a try on the stroke of half time.
Unlike Bloemfontein though Wales struck back with a try of their own. Skipper Colin Charvis picked up from a loose scrum to drive his way over the line and Wales were square. It looked likely that it would be Wales who would be first to touch down again, especially when Rhys Williams tore down the right wing.
He had outpaced whatever cover defence there was when he was smashed to the ground by scrumhalf Craig Davidson, who had minutes earlier come on to earn his first Test cap.
From the turnover, the Boks were able to once again move upfield. They eventually won a penalty which Pretorius converted to wrestle back the lead.
Pretorius was again on hand to extend the lead to 14-8 four minutes later when he slotted a penalty from virtually the same spot.
Minutes later, Davidson struck.
Scorers: South Africa Tries: Brent Russell, Craig Davidson Conversions: Penalties: Andre Pretorius 3 Wales Tries: Colin Charvis Conversions: Penalties: Stephen Jones 1 Breyton Paulse, Andre Pretorius, Johannes Conradie, Bob Skinstad (captain), AJ Venter, Corne Krige, Jannes Labuschagne, Quinton Davids, Willie Meyer, James Dalton, Daan Human.
Substitutes South Africa: Brent Russell, Stefan Terblanche, Marius Joubert, De Wet Barry,: Ollie le Roux, Faan Rautenbach, Hottie Louw, Joe van Niekerk, Craig Davidson, Adrian Jacobs, Werner Greef.
Wales: Kevin Morgan, Rhys Williams, Mark Taylor, Andy Marinos, Craig Morgan, Stephen Jones, Dwayne Peel, Colin Charvis (captain), Martyn Williams, Michael Owen, Steve Williams, Gareth Llewellyn, Ben Evans, Robin McBryde, Lestyn Thomas Substitutes: Martyn Madden, Mefin Davies, Robert Sidoli, Gavin Thomas, Ryan Powell, Neil Jenkins, Tom Shanklin. – Sapa