Wales finished their season with an absolute gut punch, falling 43-0 to South Africa in Durban. That scoreline alone is brutal, but when you look at the last two matchups against the Springboks, it paints an even grimmer picture: an astounding 116-0 aggregate, with Wales failing to score a single point in either game. This isn’t just a loss, it’s a pattern, and it closed out their season in the Nations Championship with a thud.
Another Zero on the Scoreboard and Seven Tries Conceded
It’s tough to swallow, but Wales couldn’t put a single point on the board against South Africa again. The Springboks, the world champions, ran out convincing Nations Championship winners, scoring seven tries in Durban. Jasper Wiese, Cobus Reinach, Jesse Kriel, Jaco Williams, Herschel Jantjies, Kurt-Lee Arendse, and Paul de Villiers all crossed the line. This wasn’t the 73-0 hammering from November where Wales conceded 11 tries and suffered their heaviest home defeat, but it was still a dominant performance by South Africa. Head coach Steve Tandy, who now has nine losses in 12 Tests in charge, admitted he was “bitterly disappointed with the scoreline.” That’s an understatement when your team gets shut out twice in a row against the same opponent.
Effort Isn’t Enough When You Can’t Convert
Despite the disheartening score, Tandy did commend his team’s effort. He said they “stayed in the fight for large parts of the game” and expressed “massive pride in our players, how hard they work and the effort they put in, up against the world champions.” But effort only gets you so far. When pressed on the failure to score, Tandy was candid. He noted it was “pretty one-sided when it comes to us defending and getting the ball.” He also pointed to a lack of accuracy in crucial moments, mentioning “a knock-on” or “space we didn’t take.” Not taking advantage of “three or four penalties in a row” also stung. South Africa’s physicality at the breakdown and their “well-oiled defensive unit” definitely played a role.
Captain Dewi Lake echoed Tandy’s sentiment on pride, saying he was “massively proud of his troops” despite the scoreboard. Lake acknowledged the “nil on the scoreboard” and the loss isn’t happy-making, but he claimed there was “a lot of improvement in that” compared to their autumn performance. He’s proud of “every single one of those boys that pulled the jersey on and gave everything on that field today.” But for the fans, seeing “nil” twice in a row against the same team is tough, no matter the effort. Tandy stressed there are “lots of things that we’ll have to get better at and grow again.” Let’s hope that growth is real and shows up next season, because the aggregate score is screaming for a change.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
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