Wales v South Africa LIVE rugby: Result and reaction after Springboks condemn hosts to winless year

Jean Kleyn’s withdrawal yesterday means another record-extending start for Eben Etzebeth, the most capped South African rugby player of all time. With another World Player of the Year nod entirely possible, I spoke to him ahead of the autumn to get inside the mind of the Springboks’ enforcer:

Lock Eben Etzebeth, flanker Pieter-Steph du Toit and wing Cheslin Kolbe have all been nominated for World Rugby Men’s Player of the Year in a Springboks-dominated shortlist, but there is no place for South Africa teammate Ox Nche with the prop snubbed by the voting panel.

Loosehead Nche had appeared to be among the standout candidates for the award after an outstanding year at international level, yet has missed out to his three colleagues and Ireland’s Caelan Doris. No prop has ever made the shortlist for the prestigious individual gong, which was first awarded in 2001.

The November rugby internationals have seen strong levels of interest across Europe with executives at governing bodies and broadcasters understood to be pleased with viewing figures.

TNT Sports, who are in their first year as the UK broadcaster of the Autumn Nations Series after taking over from Amazon, are said to be particularly encouraged by the week-on-week growth in interest in their first significant, sustained involvement in international rugby.

The England vs South Africa clash last weekend set a new record rugby audience for the channel, formerly BT Sport, with interest in line with top Premier League and Champions League games.

A bit of pre-match shuffling for Wales with an ill Gareth Thomas and Tom Rogers, dealing with a sore calf, both forced to withdraw. Prop Nicky Smith and wing Josh Hathaway are promoted from the bench; Kemsley Mathias and Owen Watkin are called in as replacements.

Updated Wales XV: 1 Nicky Smith, 2 Dewi Lake (captain), 3 Archie Griffin; 4 Will Rowlands, 5 Christ Tshiunza; 6 James Botham, 7 Jac Morgan, 8 Taine Plumtree; 9 Ellis Bevan, 10 Sam Costelow; 11 Rio Dyer, 12 Ben Thomas, 13 Max Llewellyn, 14 Josh Hathaway; 15 Blair Murray.

Replacements: 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Kemsley Mathias, 18 Keiron Assiratti, 19 Freddie Thomas, 20 Tommy Reffell; 21 Rhodri Williams, 22 Eddie James, 23 Owen Watkin.

Rugby is a game of grey areas. From foul play to scrum-time skirmish, one’s opinion on a particular incident can vary greatly depending on the lens through which it is viewed. Even top officials disagree with regularity on moments of contention, while plenty a perplexed look from a player has betrayed an alternate view at a coaching or refereeing call.

It is partly through their ability to thrive within these indeterminate spaces that has helped the Springboks become double World Cup winners. While their unique approach to the sport has so often driven debate, South Africa have generally managed to innovate or dominate in ways that no other side seems capable. From loading up with seven forwards on the bench to maximise their second-half scrum impact, to employing traffic lights in the coaches’ box to improve on-field decision-making, it is a side that searches for every possible edge.

But now even the Springboks are stepping out of the grey.

Wales assistant Rob Howley has described Warren Gatland as the world’s best coach and insists the under-fire boss is going nowhere.

“We’ve got the best coach in the world who has had a legacy of over 13 years,” Howley said. “He has won grand slams, and there is no better coach to have in your camp than Warren Gatland. He gives players the confidence and self-belief they need to go out and play.

“He is a hugely respected coach and has coached over a number of years. His legacy with different teams is a winning legacy. I think that at the moment we are in this spell where we are losing and losing. We, at some point, know we will win, and I hope it will be on Saturday.

“I just feel at the moment we’ve got the best coach who has got years of experience. He understands rugby, and I believe that Wales have got the best coach in the world to get us out of this.”

With Wales expected to end the year reeling from 12 successive Test defeats, attention will quickly turn to the Six Nations, which they begin against France in Paris on January 31.

It is the toughest of openers, then Wales head to Rome eight days later for an appointment with Italy that is already being billed in some quarters as a wooden spoon decider.

Heavyweights Ireland and England will make the journey to Cardiff, either side of a Murrayfield clash against Scotland, where Wales lost 35-7 on their last visit in 2023. The losing run has to end some time, somewhere, but pinpointing an exact date and location is far from straightforward.

South Africa’s revered rugby juggernaut rolls into Cardiff for a game the Springboks are expected to win easily.

Even though head coach Rassie Erasmus has made several changes from the team that saw off England last time out, the starting line-up still has a combined 515 caps, while the bench total of 431 is almost 100 more than Wales’ entire match-day 23.

It is difficult to see an area of the game where Wales can establish parity, let alone dominance, and South Africa’s record victory in the Welsh capital of 52-16 could come under serious threat. It is easy to be pessimistic, given Wales’ current plight, but reality points to South Africa cutting loose.

Judging by the numbers that streamed out of the Principality Stadium as Australia ran riot late in Wales’ last game, patience would appear to be wearing thin.

There were hundreds of empty seats by the time Australia eased past 50 points, and why would supporters not feel disillusioned with the current state of affairs?

The first two autumn fixtures were a combined 30,000-plus short of capacity, and while kick-off times have not helped – there were two Sunday games at 1.40pm and 4.10pm, and the South Africa match will swing into action at 5.40pm – Wales fans in many cases are voting with their feet, and the prospect of another comprehensive defeat looms large.

Results-wise, 2024 will be remembered as the worst in Wales’ 143-year international rugby union history. It began with a madcap 27-26 home defeat against Scotland – the Scots’ first win in Cardiff since 2002 – and they did not recover.

A narrow away loss to England followed, before Wales shipped 31 and 45 points against Ireland and France, while a home defeat against Italy meant they lost every Six Nations game and propped up the table.

The summer brought further reversals against South Africa and Australia (twice), then Fiji and Australia triumphed during the Autumn Nations Series, leaving the Springboks in position to complete what would be a true annus horribilis.