VENUE: MILLENNIUM STADIUM

CROWD: 600000

CONDITIONS: FINE

REFEREE: CHRIS WHITE

WALES 12 (5) v (22) 34 SOUTH AFRICA

SCORERS:

Pen: Frans Steyn (4th); 0-3

Try: Juan Smith (20th); 0-8

Con: Andre Pretorius (21st); 0-10

Try: Jacque Fourie (28th); 0-15

Try: Fourie (31st); 0-20

Con: Pretorius (32nd); 0-22

Try: Colin Charvis (40th); 5-22

Try: JP Pietersen (45th); 5-27

Con: Pretorius (46th); 5-29

Try: Morgan Stoddart (51st); 10-29

Con: James Hook (53rd); 12-29

Try: Ryan Kankowski (67th); 12-34

STATISTICS:

Scrums - WAL 9 feeds = 8 wins, SA 15 feeds = 14 wins

Line-outs - WAL 18 feeds = 14 wins, SA 11 feeds = 9 wins

Rucks/Mauls - WAL 95, SA 37

Turnovers - WAL 7, SA 5

Handling errors - WAL 11, SA 9

Penalties - WAL 9, SA 7

Free kicks - WAL 2, SA 0

Shots at Goal - WAL (1/3), SA (4/6)

Yellow cards - Albert van den Berg (48th), Bismarck du Plessis (78th)

Red cards -

PLAYER ANALYSIS:

Best Front-ranker: Jannie du Plessis (3)

Best Second-rower: Alun Wyn Jones (4)

Best Back-rower: Schalk Burger (6)

Best Half-back: Ricky Januarie (9)

Best Mid-fielder: Frans Steyn (12)

Best at the Back: Morgan Stoddart (15)

CONCLUSION:

Not hard too see why one team are World Champions and why the other failed to reach the quarter-final stage of the World Cup. South Africa created 5 scoring opportunities and capitalized on every single one. Wales on the other hand must have had about a dozen possible opportunities yet could only cash in twice, one of them when the Boks only had 14 players on the paddock. The Welsh players have of course been participating in domestic rivalries and most notably the Heineken Cup, the Springboks have had a month off which has been loaded by ticket-tape periods and appearances all over the country. Wales certainly enjoyed most of the possession yet ran into a Green wall of defence, something that was a feature in France a month ago.