QF1: South Africa v Wales, 17 October

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SOUTH AFRICA v WALES

17 October 2015
16:00 BST (UTC+01)
Twickenham, London

Live on expensive telly

Ref: Wayne Barnes (England)
ARs: George Clancy (Ireland) and JP Doyle (England)
TMO: Graham Hughes (England)

A. Head to Head

30 Played 30
27 Won 2
1 Drawn 1
2 Lost 27
814 Points 440

B. Recent Form

29 November 2014
Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
12–6 to Wales

21 June 2014
Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit
31–30 to South Africa

14 June 2014
Growthpoint Kings Park, Durban
38–16 to South Africa

9 November 2013
Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
15–24 to South Africa

11 September 2011
Wellington Regional Stadium, Wellington
17–16 to South Africa

13 November 2010
Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
25–29 to South Africa

5 June 2010
Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
31–34 to South Africa

8 November 2008
Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
15–20 to South Africa

C. TEAMS:
SOUTH AFRICA

Le Roux; Pietersen, Kriel, De Allende, Habana; Pollard, Du Preez (capt); Mtawarira, B du Plessis, Malherbe; De Jager, Etzebeth; Burger, Louw, Vermeulen.

Replacements: Strauss for Du Plessis (55), Nyakane for Tendai Mtawarira (56), J Du Plessis for Malherbe (60), Du Toit for Etzebeth (67), Alberts for Louw (67), Lambie for Pollard (76), Serfontein for Kriel (67), Pienaar (unused).


WALES

Anscombe; Cuthbert, Morgan, Roberts, North; Biggar, G Davies; Jenkins, Baldwin, Lee; Charteris, AW Jones; Lydiate, Warburton (capt), Faletau.

Replacements: Owens for Baldwin (56), James for Jenkins (55), Francis for Lee (55), Davies for Charteris (63), Tipuric for Lydiate (67), L Williams for G Davies (70), Priestland for Biggar (73), Hook for Morgan (67).

GeordieFalcon wrote:The Welsh are complaining Sgt...  

Haha....enough said GF.

majesticimperialman wrote:

mikey_dragon wrote:MOTM is Vermeulen surely? Everything SA did well was off the back of him. If not the it's probably Wayne Barnes for giving SA the breakdown .

mikey__dragon.

Lets face it you was good enough to beat England. But not good enough to beat South Africa.

So Wales are out just like England are out.

You lasted one more week than we did.

So go home now and prepare for the 6ns. bye.

and even then it was very very close even with the shambles Lancaster picked. The press have talked it up into a clear walkover when it was never closer.

Commiserations Wales. Disappointed you couldn't hang on to the slim lead in what was a very close match. Fought for everything as I knew you would. Just wasn't to be your day.

Congrats, South Africa

I'm far from being Welsh and thought Barnes was awful.

Was habana ok to nail the halfback in the position he was in that lead to the scrum and resulting try?

Hammersmith harrier wrote:I'm far from being Welsh and thought Barnes was awful.

Well, perhaps you haven't a clue what you are talking about then.

Sgt_Pooly wrote:Anybody complaining about Barnes clearly doesn't understand the rules. I thought he was excellent today.

I agree. consistent, warned players, communicated well with the tmo

Turnovers....stats not mentioned on.itv but I was impressed by the number of turnovers won by Wales.

I actually thought Barnes had a good game, to me he was consistent, the problem at times is Wales players stood there ball watching while South Africa committed men to the break down and shunted us off it, that was our fault.

I can't see how people can blame Cuthbert either, if the No8 had stepped out of Gareth Davies tackle, Cuthbert would of been blamed for not committing, if the No8 flips the ball out then it's Cuthberts fault for committing. The problems again was when we make subs our scrum goes totally to hell.

I do think that IF Gatland hadn't upset Adam Jones needlessly then we would of had a more competent tight head for the scrums later on in games.

I'm not bitter in any way though, a good World Cup for Wales was beating England and getting out of the pool, the fact we did it with a horrific amount of injuries is a bonus really. Several player including Dan Biggar have really stepped up from good players to World Class.

For me there was only ever going to be one result. Wales simly didn't make enough with ball in hand, kicked away too much possession ( although it did get them their try)

Fantastic defence kept Wales in the game - how many times did they take the ball off SA in their own 22?

528 m run by SA, 270 by wales SA had to make under a hundred tackles, Wales nearer 200.

gregortree wrote:Turnovers....stats not mentioned on.itv but I was impressed by the number of turnovers won by Wales.

17 according to ESPN thats what kept them in the game especially the number of turnovers in the welsh 22

We play like that vs NZ we're going to get crucified

On the ref - it was obvious in the second half how much quicker the welsh forwards were at getting out of the ruck

I thought everyone had a great game. The Boks played well. The Welsh played well. The ref was fair and consistent. There was no dirty play. And in the second half there were long periods of play that went uninterrupted by the refs whistle.

Gutted with the result but can't fault the performance or the officials.
SA just to strong at the breakdown driving over to both defend their ball and turnover ours on a few occasions.

kingraf wrote:We play like that vs NZ we're going to get crucified

Yup. For all that huff and puff and dominance of territory and possession in the second half you didn't really threaten the try line much. To beat NZ you will need to score tries

Great game. 'nuff said.

have to admit, Biggar is clear #1 NH 10 at the moment

Shame Biggar is out. Immense tournament, deserves better.

nathan wrote:have to admit, Biggar is clear #1 NH 10 at the moment

Yeah, agree with that. Although Sexton has been consistently at the top

Biltong wrote:

nathan wrote:have to admit, Biggar is clear #1 NH 10 at the moment

Yeah, agree with that. Although Sexton has been consistently at the top

Yup - certainly the 10 of the WC so far

nathan wrote:have to admit, Biggar is clear #1 NH 10 at the moment

It's hard to pick between him and Sexton; Ford is the best playmaker of the three but well behind in other areas.

InjuredYetAgain wrote:Nice try. Can't blame Cuthbert as he had to try to stop the offload

You can sadly. He didn't need to come in and once he did he should've levelled Vermuelen, instead of just patting him.

Cyril wrote:

Well done SA!

Plucky by Wales but better side won. Just need NZ, Arg and Aus to win for my bet to come in now

Good bet that. It's what I would've done too.

majesticimperialman wrote:

mikey_dragon wrote:MOTM is Vermeulen surely? Everything SA did well was off the back of him. If not the it's probably Wayne Barnes for giving SA the breakdown .

mikey__dragon.

Lets face it you was good enough to beat England. But not good enough to beat South Africa.

So Wales are out just like England are out.

You lasted one more week than we did.

So go home now and prepare for the 6ns. bye.

You are something else. Your attempts at banter and/or being clever don't suit you Madge.

Congrats to SA

When England got knocked out, i turned my support too Wales.

Now Wales are out i will turn my support to Ireland.

Again well played Wales for such a good game.

Well done to SA. I text the wife on about sixty minutes saying we wouldn't win, as you could sense it slipping away a bit and we were under a load of pressure.

Pleased for Tyler Morgan today. Did very well considering how out of his depth and how unready he is.

so what is Gatlands record vs SH opposition?

SA can strangle and overpower any team and yes that includes NZ too.

biggar best 10 this tournament.   having the match he had against England and now today deserves recognition. long over due.  if gareth davies and gareth anscome hadn't tried to hijack control of the aussie game who knows!!!!!!!!! well done wales

I thought Barnes got most of it right tbh. I thought about two/three Saffers flopped over on the breakdown that lead to the scrum that SA scored the try from though.

Another brave performance from everyone out there, but another case of missed opportunities and what ifs. Then just nothing left in the tank to come back after SA took it up a notch in the second half.

kingraf wrote:We play like that vs NZ we're going to get crucified

What if you play France Raf

Hard luck Wales.

Tought they may have hung on for the win.

For me Wales lost this when Lloyd Williams came on and wasn't quick enough to send the ball wide after Francis brilliant turnover, i'm pretty sure Gareth Davies would have done better.

Also thought Tipuric didn't add anything in such a physical game. Poor coaching lost it for Wales.

Hell of a tough hard fought game. Got to feel for the Wales side - they gave it all they had and so very nearly hung on in there.
Well done SA - getting stronger as the competition goes on.
Think both sets of fans deserve a few beers now!

If only Gethin could pass.

Well done Boks, i know as a South African its not "cool" to talk positively about my team.

kingraf wrote:We play like that vs NZ we're going to get crucified

We cant say how New Zealand will play on the day nor us.

Look what happened to Province yesterday. Nobody gave them a chance. Its sport

routing for you after you pipped us wales. spot on gavstar . I highlighted your 9 and 15,s overkill losing the aussie game for you. 15 better today but still a few wayward decisions. 9 realised today he has to let the 10 run the game that wales play. substitutions big mistake. biggar 10 for lions on this tournament performance. imagine his contribution with the very best around him.

I don't think it's overly negative to say that if we don't show any penetrationot against a team which has spent the last four years showing no problems in cutting us up we will lose. We have to go balls to the walls against them. We might lose, but if we try grind them down, we will lose

You must be feeling quietly confident, Kingraf.
You squeezed us out the game and won convincingly (ok it was only our second choice team but you can only beat what is in front of you) and you just did likewise with the Welsh. You haven't played that well but are still in the semi-final. That in itself must give you grounds for some optimism

Mate, I'm not one to downplay my team's chances if I believe we'll win. We're 1-5 against the All Blacks under Meyer. We aren't playing particularly well, and our 10 has proven his kicking (both tactical and at poles) can be flustered. I'd give us a 25% chance of emerging victorious.

kingraf wrote:I don't think it's overly negative to say that if we don't show any penetrationot against a team which has spent the last four years showing no problems in cutting us up we will lose. We have to go balls to the walls against them. We might lose, but if we try grind them down, we will lose  

Although in fairness, Wales have had a very good defensive record in the WC so far...so maybe the Boks' lack of penetration was down to good Welsh defence.

nobbled wrote:Hell of a tough hard fought game. Got to feel for the Wales side - they gave it all they had and so very nearly hung on in there.
Well done SA - getting stronger as the competition goes on.
Think both sets of fans deserve a few beers now!

I agree the Welsh replacements apart from Ken Owens and possibly Paul James weakened the side rather than strengthened it. Lloyd, Hook, Francis were very poor (but let's be honest if it wasn't for the injury crisis they would not have been anywhere near the squad) and for once Tipuric weakened the side, Lydiate was playing brilliantly, should not have been taken off.

Lots of moaning about the ref, I thought he was particularly harsh on Wales early in the first half which gave SA a good start. He certainly improved as the game went on but I agree his refereeing of the breakdown was very lenient

Well done Wales, you gave everything.

Well done SA as well for finding a way to win.

That was a fantastic advert for rugby.

Mr Fishpaste wrote:

kingraf wrote:I don't think it's overly negative to say that if we don't show any penetrationot against a team which has spent the last four years showing no problems in cutting us up we will lose. We have to go balls to the walls against them. We might lose, but if we try grind them down, we will lose  

Although in fairness, Wales have had a very good defensive record in the WC so far...so maybe the Boks' lack of penetration was down to good Welsh defence.

We're out though.

TightHEAD wrote:so what is Gatlands record vs SH opposition?

Your post belongs in the joke thread.

SA and Wales are pretty similar in terms of being good in defence and fairly limited in attack. SA are just better at being SA though.

Cyril wrote:SA and Wales are pretty similar in terms of being good in defence and fairly limited in attack. SA are just better at being SA though.

You've noticed too then.

Cardiff Dave wrote:

TightHEAD wrote:so what is Gatlands record vs SH opposition?

Your post belongs in the joke thread.

It's that bad is it?

TightHEAD wrote:

Cardiff Dave wrote:

TightHEAD wrote:so what is Gatlands record vs SH opposition?

Your post belongs in the joke thread.

It's that bad is it?

Worse than that even.