English
Indian
العربية
Español
Deutsch
Türkçe
Русский
Français (Afrique)
South Africa v Wales in Durban – LIVE UPDATES
The Springboks take on Wales in the final match of the July window of the new Nations Championship in Durban on Saturday, with kick-off at 5.40pm.
The Boks go into the game on the back of two wins so far in the competition, against England and Scotland, while Wales beat Fiji and lost to Argentina.
The last time the Boks and Wales met, in Cardiff last November, the Boks won 73-0. syntagm.co.za
There are four debutants in a new-look Bok side on Saturday, namely wing Jaco Williams, flyhalf Vusi Moyo, lock Ruben van Heerden and prop Carlu Sadie.
TEAMS
SPRINGBOKS – 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Jaco Williams, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Vusi Moyo, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit (capt), 6 Paul de Villiers, 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 Cobus Wiese, 3 Carlü Sadie, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp. Bench: 16 André-Hugo Venter, 17 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 Ben-Jason Dixon, 20 Marco van Staden, 21 Herschel Jantjies, 22 Manie Libbok, 23 Damian Willemse.
WALES – 15 Blair Murray, 14 Louis Rees-Zammit, 13 Max Llewellyn, 12 Ben Thomas, 11 Josh Adams, 10 Dan Edwards, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Jac Morgan, 6 Alex Mann, 5 Adam Beard, 4 Teddy Williams, 3 Dillon Lewis, 2 Dewi Lake (capt), 1 Rhys Carre. Bench: 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Ben Warren, 19 Freddie Thomas, 20 Tommy Reffell, 21 James Botham, 22 Reuben Morgan-Williams, 23 Joe Hawkins
Below is The Citizen’s live coverage of the match from Durban.
Springboks v Wales – LIVE UPDATES
Updates from the action at Kings Park will appear below. Please refresh to see the latest posts.
Pick your MVP: Boks vs Wales
The Springboks blanked Wales 43-0 at Kings Park. Who was the most valuable Bok?
The post Pick your MVP: Boks vs Wales appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Boks’ big bruisers take charge
Lock crisis? What lock crisis, asks CLINTON VAN DER BERG.
With a raft of South Africa’s tall timber sidelined by injury, there were genuine fears the Springboks were scraping the bottom of the barrel in their search for capable second rows.
Someone forgot to tell debutant Ruben van Heerden and Cobus Wiese.
In wildly different ways, both men were central to the Boks’ bruising triumph over Wales.
RECAP: Seven-try Boks blank Wales again
Van Heerden was simply untouchable, bossing the lineout with the poise of a seasoned campaigner, winning clean ball and needling opponents in the proud tradition of every self-respecting lock forward. As debuts go, it was nothing short of compelling.
Wiese offered less of a lineout threat but took his taste for violence into the loose exchanges instead. He rumbled hard, played his part in the buildup to brother Jasper’s try, and showed the kind of relentless work ethic that will have caught Rassie Erasmus’s eye. Big, hard, athletic, uncomplaining – what’s not to like? From heaving hay bales as a 12-year-old on a farm outside Upington to breaking his neck eight years ago, Wiese’s journey to this stage is quite some story.
The pair’s performance was emblematic of the entire scrum, which was thunderous against a Welsh pack that has always prided itself on its set-piece even as the wider Welsh game has faded in recent years.
Not tonight. Tonight the Boks turned the screws, and turned them hard. At times it was uncomfortable watching the Dragons go backwards, but that was the pattern all evening, as big men like Gerhard Steenekamp, Carlü Sadie and Wilco Louw imposed their power at every scrum and every collision.
Daan Human, the inscrutable scrum doctor, will have been pleased.
What makes it all the more remarkable is that this South African pack was a patchwork quilt, largely stitched together for the very first time. Yet if the tight five were the foundation, the evening belonged largely to eighthman Jasper Wiese, who made every one of his 53 minutes count.
Fearless and unyielding, he must be miserable to play against, carrying the ball as hard as he tackled, grinding forward like an old tractor engine that simply refuses to quit.
With one eye on the World Cup and the other on the looming series against the All Blacks, Erasmus finds himself with the happiest of problems: a surfeit of world-class talent to choose from.
Almost every selection he has made, and there have been plenty, continues to pay off handsomely.
Photo: David Rogers/Getty Images
The post Boks’ big bruisers take charge appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Face à l’Espagne, Messi peut égaler un exploit vieux de 24 ans
Un dernier défi pour entrer un peu plus dans la légende. En finale de la Coupe du monde 2026 face à l’Espagne, Lionel Messi peut égaler un exploit qui résiste depuis 24 ans : remporter la Coupe du monde tout en terminant meilleur buteur du tournoi. Une performance réalisée pour la dernière fois par Ronaldo Nazário, dit « R9 », lors du Mondial 2002. L’Argentin n’est plus qu’à 90 minutes de rééditer cet exploit.
Ronaldo R9, dernier champion du monde et meilleur buteur
En 2002, en Corée du Sud et au Japon, Ronaldo Nazário avait conduit le Brésil vers son cinquième sacre mondial. Auteur de huit buts durant la compétition, dont un doublé en finale contre l’Allemagne (2-0), « O Fenômeno » avait terminé meilleur buteur du tournoi tout en soulevant le trophée. Depuis, aucun joueur n’a réussi à associer ces deux distinctions au cours d’une même Coupe du monde.
Messi à 90 minutes d’un nouvel exploit
Avec huit buts inscrits avant la finale, Lionel Messi est idéalement placé pour égaler cette performance. À 39 ans, le capitaine argentin affiche une efficacité remarquable et s’est montré décisif tout au long de la compétition. Un but face à l’Espagne lui permettrait de prendre seul la tête du classement des buteurs et de rapprocher l’Argentine d’un deuxième titre mondial consécutif.
Un rendez-vous avec l’histoire
Égaler Ronaldo R9 constituerait une nouvelle ligne prestigieuse au palmarès déjà exceptionnel de Lionel Messi. Sacré champion du monde en 2022, il pourrait cette fois ajouter le Soulier d’Or de la compétition à un nouveau titre mondial. Face à l’Espagne, meilleure défense du tournoi, le défi s’annonce immense. Mais s’il existe un joueur capable d’écrire une nouvelle page de l’histoire du football, c’est bien Lionel Messi.
The post Face à l’Espagne, Messi peut égaler un exploit vieux de 24 ans appeared first on AfricaFootUnited.
Springboks Ruthless in Durban: South Africa Blank Wales 43-0
DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA — The Springboks continued their formidable march through the Nations Championship with a crushing 43-0 victory over Wales at Hollywoodbets Kings Park on Saturday.
In a match defined by relentless physical dominance and tactical superiority, Rassie Erasmus’s heavily rotated squad proved that their depth is unmatched. For Wales, the match was a sobering reality check. Steve Tandy’s men were nilled by the world champions, bringing the aggregate score between the two sides to a staggering 116-0 over their last two encounters.
Match Overview: Power, Pace, and Precision
From the first whistle, South Africa’s intent was clear: overpower the Welsh pack and dominate territory. Despite making 10 changes to the starting lineup and introducing four debutants, the Springboks looked like a cohesive, unstoppable unit.
Wales, conversely, struggled to find any attacking rhythm. Smothered by the famed South African rush defence and physically outmatched at the breakdown, the visitors were forced into playing a purely defensive game. Even when Wales managed to string phases together, handling errors in the humid Durban conditions and a lack of penetration left them with no reward.
First Half: The Early Blitz
The Springboks wasted no time asserting their dominance.
- 4th Minute: Powerhouse number eight Jasper Wiese crashed through the Welsh defense from close range to open the scoring.
- 13th Minute: Following a dominant Springbok scrum, scrum-half Cobus Reinach darted down the blindside to cross the whitewash untouched.
- Stroke of Half-Time: Debutant winger Jaco Williams and veteran centre Jesse Kriel added to the misery, blowing the game wide open just before the break to send the Boks into the tunnel with a commanding 19-0 lead.
Second Half: The Floodgates Open
If Wales hoped for a reprieve, the second half offered none. South Africa utilized their formidable bench, and the fresh legs only amplified the pressure.
- 62nd Minute: Replacement scrum-half Herschel Jantjies capitalized on a Welsh knock-on at the breakdown, finishing a slick counter-attack.
- 67th Minute (Mandela Day Tribute): The stadium erupted in a spectacular light show as fans turned on their phone torches to honour Nelson Mandela International Day, briefly turning the brutal Test match into a vibrant celebration.
- 69th Minute: Kurt-Lee Arendse scored a beautifully worked try down the left wing after the Springbok forwards pulverized the Welsh defensive line.
- 79th Minute: Flanker Paul de Villiers capped off a magnificent personal performance, and his first Test try, by dotting down at the back of a devastating driving maul.
Wales’ woes were compounded in the 64th minute when tighthead prop Ben Warren was sent to the sin-bin for a high challenge on Marco van Staden, leaving the visitors to defend with 14 men during the Springboks’ late surge.
Key Match Statistics
The gulf in class was most evident in the match data, where South Africa dictated every metric of the game.
Statistic | South Africa | Wales |
Final Score | 43 | 0 |
Tries | 7 | 0 |
Total Runs | 112 | 73 |
Metres Run with Ball | 517 | 112 |
Conversions | 4/7 | 0/0 |
Yellow Cards | 0 | 1 |
What This Means Going Forward
For South Africa:
Rassie Erasmus has sent a chilling warning to the rest of the rugby world. To rotate the squad so heavily, introduce new caps like Vusi Moyo and Jaco Williams, and still execute a 43-0 victory speaks volumes about their current ecosystem. They are primed, confident, and firing on all cylinders as they look ahead to their looming clashes with New Zealand.
For Wales:
The road ahead requires extreme patience. Coach Steve Tandy is in the throes of a deep rebuild, and while the Welsh squad showed flashes of resilience in defence, they were completely starved of territory and possession. The lack of an attacking platform and their struggles at the set-piece remain glaring issues that must be addressed if they are to become competitive ahead of the next Six Nations cycle.
For More South African Sports News: Sport South Africa Home Page
The post Springboks Ruthless in Durban: South Africa Blank Wales 43-0 appeared first on South Africa Sports News and Blog Site | South Africa Sport.