“The nearly men of world rugby.” That was a text a Welsh friend sent in the aftermath of South Africa’s 23-19 quarter-final victory. The Springboks through to the semis, Wales out.
What a heartbreaker.
The men in red threw everything at the Boks in a frenetic, fast-paced game. The Welsh made a staggering 189 tackles to South Africa’s 101, a ridiculous stat.
But it was the fact they gave away 12 penalties, and the errors in their attacking game, that eventually was mostly telling.
Like last weekend against the Wallabies, when Australia was reduced to 13 men, Wales couldn’t break through.
They kicked the ball away aimlessly too much and butchered overlaps when presented. There was not enough variation, enough invention away from their power game to trouble a resolute Bok defence.
That’s not to say the Welsh weren’t heroic, weren’t throwing everything into this one.
In some ways it was a miracle they got this far, considering the injuries they suffered before the tournament and then during it as well. How would they have gone with a fit Leigh Halfpenny and Rhys Webb? We’ll never know.
To come from behind and beat England, and take Australia to the wall, takes some doing. Getting out of the group of death is an achievement.
They were within a whisker of beating the Boks as well, or repeating their 2011 finish. But as journalist Georgina Robinson tweeted: “Wales. Always. The Bridesmaid.”
You’ve got to feel sorry for the Welsh. Like in New Zealand four years ago, they are out in gutting circumstances. A point in front with seven minutes left, but unable to hold on.
However, you also have to respect South Africa. They were more clinical, took their opportunities when presented and got the job done. With so much possession in the second half they had to.
They’ve recovered from their embarrassing first-up defeat to Japan, bounced back and are building steam.
The match-winning try was a piece of a magic from their number 8. Duane Vermeulen picked up the ball from the back of the scrum, drew two defenders and popped a wonderful ball on to Fourie du Preez to score. Game over.
A close war like this needed something special to split these two evenly-matched teams and that was it. What a try.
It will be no consolation to the Welsh, who head home after losing by the smallest of margins in the past two matches.
‘Warrenball’ has brought them great success, Six Nations crowns and several famous scalps. But maybe it is time for a change, for reinvention, for slight tinkering to help to finally remove that southern hemisphere hoodoo.
Follow John Davidson on Twitter @johnnyddavidson
Terry Kidd
Guest
No I don't feel sorry for Wales, they lost rather than the Boks won. Time and time again Wales pointlessly kicked away possession. Dumb tactic. Time and time again Jamie Roberts crashed the ball up, never passing to outside supports especially when many times Wales had created an overlap. Those chances needed to be taken. Does Roberts know how to pass? The Welsh forwards did enough for Wales to win. The Welsh backs did not. The Boks were extremely limited in their attacking skills and their defence was quite often outflanked, but they did enough to hang in there while Wales handed them the result.
Lee
Guest
John - You have got to be kidding. Wales richly deserve to exit now. Their stunning ability to butcher try scoring opportunities that would be nailed by Japan, Australia, Argentina, NZ, Ireland or even France is reason enough to wave farewell to the boyos. Their cluelessness about how to avoid giving away penalties is reminiscent of any of the denser minnows. Their bizarre desire to forgo critical penalty shots in favour of playing bulrush near the opposition tryline last week is yet another. But most of all, they are yesterdays news. 'Warrenball' is nothing special at all. It's just ordinary 15 man rugby of the kind NZ played in the early 90s. But nowadays with improved fitness, more substitutions and shorter breakdowns being encouraged by rule changes, their game looks slow, tedious, predictable and easy to defend against. Unless they stumble on some quality linebreakers and spacemakers like Nonu or Sonny Bill, they'll remain unable to smash through a competent defence. Their individual decision making is poor. They have no instinctive ability to seize any minor opportunity at the level of a sub-unit and their team tactics are tired and familiar. They still think that scrumming is a powerful weapon and that breakdowns have to be contested by as many people as can lumber up and pile on. Their gasping fatties with their muffin tops spilling underneath their jerseys are an anachronism. The only thing that recommends them is that they are the best the NH has to offer. But even so they were beaten by the most tepid, crude and unimaginative Springbok side since the end of apartheid. A SA side that was beaten by NZ, Australia, Argentina and Japan this year. A SA side that will lose by 20 points at a minimum next week. Yes - the game was filled with tension but only because there was plenty at stake and because the result was close until the end - but the game itself was dire. The entire NH plays rugby v1.0 to v1.4. They can barely catch and pass and run and think at the same time. Australia plays v2.0 (scrum often, kick smartly, commit plenty of effort to winning the breakdown and try hard to snatch turnovers at the breakdown). NZ plays v 2.1 (scrum seldom and barely contest the breakdown - just make space and run into the gaps. Get your possession by snatching opposition ball spilled by them outside of a tackle breakdown or kick recovery). The difference between NH versions of the game and SH versions is about 20 points. So maybe now the NH newspapers will stop awarding garlands to Gatland for inventing something that has already been discarded by the two teams most likely to face each other in the final. So herewith the match report for SA vs Wales as refereed by Wayne Barnes: "One fine day in the middle of the night, Two dead men got up to fight. One blind man to see fair play, two deaf men to shout hooray."
hopalong
Guest
Well played Bokke.Esp.2nd half. Well played Wales.Magnificent defensive effort.