South Africa cruise past Wales to maintain perfect Nations Championship start

South Africa continued their dominant Nations Championship campaign with a comprehensive 45-0 victory over Wales in Durban, running in seven tries to secure a bonus-point win and extend their unbeaten run to 11 Tests.

Tries from Jasper Wiese, Cobus Reinach, Jesse Kriel, Jaco Williams, Herschel Jantjies, Kurt-Lee Arendse and Paul de Villiers underlined the Springboks’ superiority as they strengthened their position at the top of the world rankings and the southern hemisphere standings.

Even without several established stars, including captain Siya Kolisi, Cheslin Kolbe, Ox Nche and Eben Etzebeth, South Africa proved far too strong for Steve Tandy’s side, who have now failed to score in their last two meetings with the Springboks.

The result followed Wales’ opening Nations Championship victory over Fiji but leaves them with back-to-back defeats after last week’s loss to Argentina. Tandy concludes his first season in charge having won three of his 12 internationals.

Wales suffered a late setback before kick-off when Josh Adams withdrew with a calf injury, allowing Ellis Mee to come into the starting XV, although captain Dewi Lake recovered from the knock that forced him off against Argentina.

Rassie Erasmus again rotated his squad heavily, making 10 changes to his starting side, while 20-year-old fly-half Vusi Moyo made history by becoming the youngest player to start at number 10 for South Africa. Moyo was one of four debutants alongside Jaco Williams, Carlu Sadie and Ruben van Heerden.

The Springboks wasted little time asserting themselves. A flowing move sparked by full-back Aphelele Fassi created the opening score, with Jasper Wiese powering over after Wales failed to halt the number eight close to the line. Moyo added the conversion for his first international points.

South Africa continued to dominate territory and possession, exposing weaknesses in the Welsh scrum throughout the opening period. After another powerful set-piece near the visitors’ line, Reinach darted over for the second try.

Although the Springboks missed several opportunities in the Welsh 22 during the remainder of the half, Wales struggled to generate any meaningful attacking threat despite showing greater resilience for periods.

Pieter-Steph du Toit thought he had added another score only for the effort to be ruled out for obstruction, but South Africa eventually found a third try before the break. Moyo’s clever cross-field kick was gathered by Kriel, who crossed to give the hosts a commanding 19-0 half-time advantage.

Tandy introduced several replacements at the interval, including Ryan Elias, Nicky Smith and James Botham, but the changes did little to halt the momentum.

South Africa secured the four-try bonus point shortly after the restart when another loose Welsh kick was punished, allowing debutant Williams to race clear and finish clinically.

Wales enjoyed their best spell of possession midway through the second half, repeatedly opting for quick tap penalties deep inside the Springboks’ territory, but they were unable to break through a disciplined South African defence.

The home side’s strength in depth was again evident as replacements made an immediate impact. Returning scrum-half Herschel Jantjies marked his first Test appearance in three years with a well-taken try after exploiting space around the fringes.

Wales’ afternoon worsened when replacement prop Ben Warren was shown a yellow card for a high tackle on Marco van Staden, and South Africa quickly capitalised on the numerical advantage.

The ball was worked wide for Arendse to glide over for the sixth try before the Springboks rounded off an emphatic display in familiar fashion, with de Villiers crashing over from a driving maul to complete the scoring.

The victory keeps South Africa unbeaten through three Nations Championship matches following earlier wins over England and Scotland, while Wales leave South Africa still searching for answers after another difficult afternoon against the reigning world champions.