South Africa v Wales LIVE rugby: Result and reaction as Damian Willemse kicks Springboks to last-gasp win
Follow reaction from the first Test of Wales’ summer tour as the Springboks break Welsh hearts
Full back Damian Willemse kicked a pressure penalty after the hooter to secure South Africa rugby a 32-29 victory over ill-disciplined Wales rugby in a see-saw test at a raucous Loftus Versfeld.
Louis Rees-Zammit crossed twice in the first half to put Wales in control and Dewi Lake also crossed to seemingly snatch a draw late on for the tourists, who came agonisingly close to their first-ever victory on South African soil.
They ran the world champions so close but paid the price for their cynical play in their own 22 as they lost four players to yellow cards and conceded a penalty try.
The Springboks might have won by a greater margin but for their own lacklustre play as their tactical kicking was abysmal and decision-making in key phases of play unusually poor. Hookers Bongi Mbonambi and Malcolm Marx, and wing Cheslin Kolbe, crossed for tries for the home side. The second of three tests will be played in Bloemfontein next Saturday with Wales still in search of a first win in South Africa after 11 attempts.
Follow all the reaction below with our live blog:
TRY! NEW ZEALAND 28-5 Ireland (Ardie Savea try, 39 minutes)
Try! The All Blacks blitz continues, every opportunity being taken. Smith did indeed manage to divert the ball backwards, and an unfortunate bounce took it out of the grasp of both Peter O’Mahony and James Lowe, sliding over their own line. Ardie Savea kept his feet and flops in glee on the loose ball - and a fourth Jordie Barrett conversion adds two more.
Try? New Zealand 21-5 Ireland, 38 minutes
This is a tough one. Keith Earls had raced back well to contest the gather with Smith after the scrum-half had chipped over Hugo Keenan, but it looks like the All Blacks’ hands have got their first. Has he scooped it back, though?
It looks like he may have done. TMO Marius van der Westhuizen’s verdict is...
Try? This will be checked! New Zealand 21-5 Ireland, 38 minutes
Have New Zealand got another? It’s a brilliant break from Aaron Smith, dummying and darting away from the base of a ruck, but has he knocked the ball on as he attempted to ground before Ardie Savea completed the job?
TRY! NEW ZEALAND 21-5 Ireland (Quinn Tupaea try, 36 minutes)
Dribbled through by Beauden Barrett and Quinn Tupaea collects and scores! It is another mess of Ireland’s own making, plenty of bodies populating a ruck soon after the lineout but never quite securing the ball, Aaron Smith radioing his forwards in to ensure it then comes back on the All Blacks’ side.
Barrett and his backs switch quickly from defence to attack, the fly-half assessing his options as the Irish line rush forward at him. He spots great open expanses of pasture in the backfield, dropping ball to right instep and inviting Tupaea to pick up beneath the posts and score New Zealand’s third.
Another Jordie Barrett conversion and things are beginning to go swiftly south for Ireland.
New Zealand 14-5 Ireland, 34 minutes
Ireland have looked to keep the ball in play a lot, kicking infield rather than for the stands with perhaps ill-conceived regularity. The All Blacks are just beginning to stir, tackling with real might as Ireland begin to look the sloppier side in a game that continues to be scrappy.
Ireland will throw a lineout in their own 22 after New Zealand play the percentages.
New Zealand 14-5 Ireland, 32 minutes
And to add to Ireland’s woe, Sexton is being led off by a medic. It appears his head took a nasty bang from Sam Cane’s left thigh as he collided with his fellow skipper after that untimely slip. For a player with a history of brain injuries, that isn’t particularly good to see.
Joey Carbery on.
TRY! NEW ZEALAND 14-5 Ireland (Sevu Reece, 30 minutes)
From inside his own 22, Reece puts his foot down and there is no catching him!
Ireland rather ran out of puff and purpose, increasingly ragged as they try to reset having lost a number of gainline collisions. Sexton is back on his feet and trying to orchestrate but it is all a half-beat off, Garry Ringrose juggling his fly-half’s pass slightly and then passing in front of a slipping James Lowe.
Reece’s feet, hands and intentions are certain as he gathers the bouncing oval ball and sets off for the posts at the far end. Another Jordie Barrett conversion extends the All Blacks’ advantage.
New Zealand 7-5 Ireland, 28 minutes
Another imperfect exit from the All Blacks and here again come Ireland. Johnny Sexton falls awkwardly as his feet go out from under him as he prepares to take contact, and his absence from the line just forces a stall in the Irish movement.
Hang on - a loose pass and Sevu Reece is cantering away!
New Zealand 7-5 Ireland, 27 minutes
Aaron Smith’s clearance isn’t the prettiest and Lowe lets out some frustration with an angry rumble into the New Zealand chasers. Ireland win back a crossfield hoist but make little gain. Garry Ringrose arcs to the outside but is felled by Brodie Retallick’s go-go-gadget arms, and the ball again spills into touch on Lowe’s left wing.
New Zealand 7-5 Ireland, 26 minutes
Ireland explore an intriguingly large blindside from the back of the scrum, but the All Blacks drift and hold their feet as the Irish cogs interchange in attack, and an ambitiously flat pass for James Lowe on the extreme left tumbles forwards from the former Tasman Mako’s fingers.
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