Springboks Massacre Wales To End Tour Unbeaten
The Springboks brought the curtain down on their end-of-year tour with an emphatic, resounding victory, putting Wales to the sword with a colossal 73-0 victory courtesy of eleven tries at Principality Stadium on Saturday.
The game will be remembered for one of the most dominant performances in tier one rugby and ensures the Springboks go unbeaten in the Autumn Nations Series for the second successive year.Β
Wales took to the field in their traditional red kit with the Springboks wearing their alternative white kit under a closed roof at the Principality Stadium.
The much-anticipated first scrum of the game occurred in the seventh minute, when the green and gold pack completely overpowered the Welsh on their own feed.
From the resulting penalty, the Springboks kicked to touch, secured lineout ball as they entered Walesβ 22 and worked through fourteen phases – before Gerhard Steenekamp powered over for the game’s first points. Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu made no mistake with the conversion to make it 7-0 to the Rugby World Cup Champions.
In the 14th minute, Ethan Hooker added to his first try against Italy, when a clean ball was secured from another powerful scrum before the backs produced some spell-binding interplay that saw the 6-foot-4-inch wing score his second international try. Feinberg-Mngomezulu slotted the conversion again to take the score to 14-0.
Wales showed some good fight, attempting to launch attacks, and on one occasion showed great defensive ability to stop the Springbok maul and win a turnover on their own try line.
The Springboks scored their next points in the 31st minute following a scrum due to Joe Hawkins being offside. The scrum option was a no-brainer with the try line in sight and in a demonstration of power that can only be described as βmen against boys,β Jasper Wiese touched down for the third try of the half. Feinberg-Mngomezulu added the extras right under the posts.
Just as Wales thought they had ended the half winning some small battles, Canan Moodie gathered a pass so expertly that he put himself into space and launched another attack.
Sustained pressure and physical dominance resulted in the fourth try, courtesy of Morne van den Berg. Flawless Feinberg-Mngomezulu wasnβt putting a foot wrong as he maintained his 100% record.
Wales will have to chalk that first half up as a learning experience, as they have barely had a sniff.
HALF-TIME: SOUTH AFRICA 28-0 WALES
It didn’t take the Springboks long to continue their dominance as two minutes in, Wilco Louw scored the Springboks’ fifth try. With that pick-and-go, no soul was going to deny the 144kg behemoth. Feinberg-Mngomezulu continued his impressive form, increasing the score to 35-0.
As if matters were not bad enough for Wales, Taine Plumtree was sent to the sin-bin, increasing Walesβ troubles.
Collectively, the Welsh cut dejected figures as the quick thinking of the impressive Feinberg-Mngomezulu yielded the Boks’ sixth try. After a quick tap penalty, he shrugged off Gareth Thomas and stepped on the gas to score an impressive solo effort.
The winners of the 2025 Rugby Championship made it three tries in nine minutes when Canan Moodie scored a try any footballer would be proud of – capitalising on a loose pass from Dan Edwards and kicking the ball half the length of the field – dotting down a superb effort. 49-0.
The 51st minute allowed South Africa to unleash the nuke squad as all eight changes were made in one fell swoop.
The game was getting out of control from a Welsh perspective when Andre Esterhuizenβs powerful run resulted in the Springboks’ eight try – as many tries in the first 13 minutes of the second half as the entire first.
Before Feinberg-Mngomezulu missed his first kick of the night, Wales were subjected to another yellow card as a result of Aaron Wainwrightβs reckless challenge.
With just less than 30 minutes to play, the Springboks’ lead of 54-0 was unassailable.
Feinberg-Mngomezulu dotted down for his second try, and the Boks’ ninth of the night, after taking a pass from Ben-Jason Dixon. His subsequent conversion took the score to 61-0.
Arguably one of the best Springbok players this year, Ruan Nortje added to the already massive scoreline in the 69th minute, as the unsung hero barged over the whitewash unchallenged. Feinberg Mngomezulu couldn’t add the extras, keeping the score at 66-0.
The Rugby World Cup Champions were unrelenting when it was Eben Etzebethβs turn to get his name on the scoresheet, scoring an unprecedented eleventh try.
The match ended in fiery fashion with scuffles breaking out as tempers flared.
Etzebethβs night ended disastrously as he was given a permanent red card for putting his thumb in the eye of Alex Mann.
The defeat goes down as Walesβ biggest ever defeat following their 68-14 loss to England in the Six Nations last season.
For the four-time Rugby World Cup champions, the season ended on the high note they vowed to end it on, and looking back, will go down as one of the most successful in the great history of the Green and Gold.
