{"id":18538,"date":"2024-11-23T19:58:53","date_gmt":"2024-11-23T19:58:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/?p=18538"},"modified":"2024-11-23T19:58:53","modified_gmt":"2024-11-23T19:58:53","slug":"dominant-springboks-inflict-12th-wales-loss-in-row","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/?p=18538","title":{"rendered":"Dominant Springboks inflict 12th Wales loss in row"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Gatland\u2019s four changes from the Australia drubbing became six before kick-off with the loss of two of his better performers, prop Gareth Thomas (illness) and wing Tom Rogers (calf).<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">But this was still the most inexperienced Wales team in seven years with a meagre combined total of a  just 214 caps.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">By comparison the Springboks second-row pairing of Etzebeth and Mostert have 207 between them and, as if to ram home the point, it was that pair who opened the scoring.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Both were gifted clear 20-metre runs to the line, Mostert from his perfectly-timed run into Hendrikse\u2019s pass, Etzebeth from a counter-ruck after Sam Costelow\u2019s catch.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">For the third week in a row, Wales saw a player limp off inside ten minutes as Costelow made way, prompting a midfield shift that was horribly exposed for South Africa\u2019s third try.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Dominance at the scrum set up Louw for the fourth before Wales finally responded with a rare spell of possession on the stroke of half-time.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Having banged on a closed door up front for some four minutes, eventually it was simply the sheer pace of Dyer that got them over.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">It was reminiscent of the days of Shane Williams\u2026 when all else fails, give it to the pacey wing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Freddie Thomas won his Test debut after the break, the 15th new cap this year under Gatland, and there was at least some fight from the hosts.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">But South Africa are the world number one, the double world champions and the reigning Rugby Championship winners and wrapped up their first clean sweep of an autumn tour since 2013.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">They were not convincing in the second half, but they did not need to be because they are so far ahead of the rest, especially Wales.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Gatland will try to fight on but the next week could decide if he will be the man to lead them to the Six Nations.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<hr style=\"border-top: 2px solid #ccc; margin-top: 20px;\">\n<p><em>Source: <\/em> <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/sport\/rugby-union\/articles\/ckg03d7neego\">www.bbc.com\u2026<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Gatland\u2019s four changes from the Australia drubbing became six before kick-off with the loss of two of his better performers, prop Gareth Thomas (illness) and wing Tom Rogers (calf). But this was still the most inexperienced Wales team in seven years with a meagre combined total of a just 214 caps. By comparison the Springboks [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18538","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18538","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18538"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18538\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18538"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}