Wales vs South Africa: Warren Gatland admits Springboks ‘deserved to win’ Rugby World Cup semi-final

The Wales coach insisted his side punched above their weight in the tournament

Wales rugby coach Warren Gatland admitted South Africa “deserved to win” Sunday’s closely-fought World Cup semi-final between the two sides.

The Springboks earned a narrow victory thanks to a late penalty from Handre Pollard, just after Wales had levelled the scores at 16-16 through a Josh Adams try.

Gatland was magnanimous in defeat, but highlighted the scale of Wales’ achievement in reaching the last four.

“It was a very tough encounter, and well done to South Africa,” he said. “We punched massively above our weight in terms of playing numbers in Wales, we gave 100% in a close contest.

“But South Africa deserved to win.”

Gatland will take charge of his final game on Friday when Wales meet New Zealand in the third place match.

Captain Alun Wyn Jones was equally complimentary of his teammates’ performance against South Africa, expressing his “pride” despite the defeat.

“I think we showed it today. We stayed in the arm wrestle, but we probably piggy-backed them down the park for the penalty,” he said. “South Africa took advantage, so congratulations to them.”

“Today we fell short, but we’ll hopefully get another opportunity.

“It wasn’t our day but I’m still proud to pull this jersey on and represent all the people in red in this stadium.”