Springboks sound ominous warning with thumping win over Wales in Cardiff

The reigning world champions produced a highly impressive performance that, while far from complete, showed they are starting to build a real head of steam and gather some much-needed momentum ahead of the defence of their World Cup crown.

In fact, had it not been for the Boks' own lack of discipline at times, it's hard to see how Wales would have gained any foothold in the match at all, so dominant were the men in green and gold. The forward battle was bordering on a mismatch, while the Springbok backline also strutted their stuff at regular intervals. Meanwhile, Wales also had serious problems dealing with South Africa's rush defence, resulting in no less than two intercept tries.

In Wales' defence, they were robbed of some much-needed experience earlier in the week following some high-profile withdrawals, so the Bok coaches will no doubt be cautious of reading too much into the result against a weakened Welsh side light on international pedigree.

After Manie Libbok got the match underway, Wales started brightly and put the Bok defence under some early pressure, although some good work at the breakdown saw the ball turned over. The hosts then gave away a penalty for a dangerous tackle on Cheslin Kolbe, which left the winger looking less than comfortable in the aftermath.

The Boks went straight on the attack, the backs moving it nicely through the hands before the forwards took over and carried it towards the Welsh line via several powerful drives. From there it was quick hands on the outside that did the trick, as Siya Kolisi - looking fit and agile in his first game back from knee surgery - drew in a couple of defenders and got his hands free, offloading to Malcolm Marx in the corner for a beautifully-constructed opening try.

Libbok's kick from the sideline was wide, however, and Wales were soon awarded a penalty when Pieter-Steph du Toit strayed offside, allowing Sam Costelow to bring the hosts back to within two.

Wales were handed another attacking position when Bok No 9 Jaden Hendrikse kicked the ball into touch after it was carried back inside the 22, but some great work from the South African pack saw the Welsh maul stopped and the ball turned over.

When a second scrum penalty went the Boks' way after the Welsh pack was driven back, they opted for a shot at goal, but Libbok couldn't find the target from right in front.

Costelow was given a similar opportunity moments later at the other end of the field when a tackler failed to roll away, and he made no mistake to put the hosts in front.

The Boks needed a spark and they got it when the dangerous RG Snyman found a way through the Welsh defence, followed by some beautiful hands from Hendrikse, Marx, Libbok and Willie le Roux to take them right to the line where Moodie was able to apply the finishing touches and go over. Libbok finally found his kicking boots as South Africa took a 12-6 lead.

Unfortunately, the Boks' discipline let them down once again from the ensuing kick-off, allowing Costelow to immediately reduce the deficit and get back Wales back to within three points.

Whenever the Boks weren't letting Wales into the game via their own indiscretions, however, they looked dangerous, and they were very nearly in for another try after Le Roux freed up Kolbe on the outside and Steven Kitshoff carried the ball up strongly.

A few minutes later, Kolisi broke free from a Bok maul and carried it towards the Welsh line before Libbok sent another crossfield kick for Moodie to collect. Wales winger Rio Dyer appeared to slap the ball out of touch, preventing Moodie from potentially getting control of the ball, and after a lengthy TMO call, Dyer was sent to the bin and the Boks were awarded a penalty try.

Things went from bad to worse for Wales a few moments later when the Boks broke free in the middle of the park after winning back a high ball. Despite a four-on-one advantage, De Allende decided to use his boot rather than shift it out wide, but luckily for him, the hosts failed to regather the ball, allowing Jesse Kriel to snap it up instead and fall over the line for the Boks' fourth try as it finished 24-9 to the visitors at the break.

Marcus van Staden came out for Kolisi at the start of the second half, but it was a job well done for the Springbok captain, who appeared to pass his first test with flying colours.

The action started with a couple of well-constructed backline moves from the Boks, neither of which resulted in a try but both of which were highly encouraging from a South African perspective.

Some ill-discipline crept in again from the men in green and gold, however, allowing Wales back into the game via three consecutive penalties, but a Jean Kleyn steal at the line-out stopped the home side in their tracks.

Meanwhile, the Bok coaches had brought on an all-new front row, and it didn't take the returning Ox Nche, Bongi Mnomambi and Vincent Koch long to reassert the dominance their predecessors had established.

Then came another moment of utter heartbreak for Wales, as they finally broke the South African line and got themselves into a dangerous position deep inside the Boks' 22, only for Pieter-Steph du Toit to read a Welsh pass to perfection and intercept the ball, offloading to Kriel who had the gas to leave his chasers in his wake and score the try - the Boks' fifth of the afternoon.

The sixth five-pointer arrived shortly before the hour mark when a pinpoint Libbok touchfinder set up a lineout up close and Duane Vermeulen carried the ball strongly before a rampant Du Toit stretched over for the score.

Wales were falling apart now, and the smothering Bok defence soon resulted in another intercept and a try for Moodie, his second of the evening.

With 12 minutes to go, the Boks went over for try number eight thanks to a long looping pass from Libbok to substitute Damian Willemse that sliced the Welsh defence to ribbons. To make matters worse, one Wales penalty too many saw Teddy Williams get 10 minutes in the bin for his troubles. The try also brought up the Bok half-century, with Libbok adding two more for good measure.

Having just scored a wonderful try, Willemse got it all wrong in an attempted tackle moments later, resulting in head-to-head contact with Johnny Williams - and a yellow card and a painful knock for his troubles. There was relief all around, however, when a subsequent review found the tackle did not meet a red-card threshold, meaning no further action would be taken against the Stormers man.

From the ensuing penalty, Wales finally found a way over the South African line when replacement hooker Sam Parry crashed over in the corner after finding a gap in the Bok defence down the blindside.

With time running out, the Boks opted to go for posts rather than pile on any more misery via a kick for touch, but Libbok's effort was wide as it finished 52-16 to the visitors on a memorable night for the visitors in Cardiff.

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