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Wales 16-52 South Africa: Warren Gatland’s team suffers a crushing defeat against the world champions.

Jessie Kriel and Canan Moodie each scored twice, with Malcolm Marx, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Damien Willemse, and a penalty try also scoring.

Sam Costelow kicked three penalties for Wales, while hooker Sam Parry added a late consolation touchdown.

On Monday, Wales coach Warren Gatland will reveal his 33-man World Cup roster.

The Springboks proved the predicted step-up from the England double-header Wales had already faced this month, resulting in a humiliating record defeat for the embarrassed hosts in Cardiff.

It was also the first time Wales conceded 50 points under Gatland’s leadership, who has promised his team will do something special at the World Cup.

Wales will now travel to France with a joint all-time low global ranking of 10th, facing Fiji in Bordeaux on September 10th, followed by group games against Portugal, Georgia, and Australia.

Wales’ starting lineup against South Africa included only 235 caps, including 39 in the backline.

The hosts were without the expertise of British and Irish Lions trio Alex Cuthbert (calf), Dan Biggar (back), and Liam Williams (hamstring), who were withdrawn from the starting lineup as “precautionary measures.”

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In comparison, South Africa’s starting lineup included Cheslin Kolbe, Damien de Allende, and a fit-again captain Siya Kolisi.

After completing his return, the Springboks captain was replaced at half-time. Kolisi has been out of action for the previous four months due to a knee injury.

South Africa will now go to Twickenham for their last warm-up encounter against New Zealand on Friday.

Observing the rule
wing for Wales Rio Dyer defends against Damian Willemse Wing of South Africa. Despite a yellow card in the first half, Rio Dyer was a rare bright light for Wales.
There were little positives for Gatland to take away from the slaughter, with Wales displaying a leaky defense and an error-strewn and inept offense.

Captain Jac Morgan put in another all-action display, while wing Rio Dyer was energetic despite receiving a first-half yellow card for a professional foul and center Johnny Williams showed promise. However, the pickings were scant.

Following the absence of Biggar, Cuthbert, and Williams, wing Tom Rogers, fly-half Costelow, and new cap Cai Evans at full-back were handed opportunities.

Rogers made an early statement by winning a high ball, but then illegally tackled Kolbe in the air.

After springing out of the line, the Scarlets wing was caught in defense, with Kolisi supplying a try-scoring ball to Marx, then missed a tackle on centre Kriel as the South African ran away to score his second try.

Centre Johnny Williams deflected an early Marx tackle to set up Costelow’s initial penalty kick and prompted an early penalty after disrupting a South African ruck.

Williams also showed off his silky hands with a long throw that set up new cap Evans for what might have been a first-half stormer, but he gave up an interception try in the second half.

Williams was part of Wales’ 22nd centre pairing in 42 games since the 2019 World Cup when he joined up with Mason Grady, who strangely handed over to opposite number Kriel for a first-half try.

After making their debuts against England in Cardiff, Cardiff forwards Corey Domachowski and Keiron Assiratti had another chance to impress against the Springboks front row.

Wales got off to a bad start, giving up a free kick and three penalties from four scrums in the first half, while the Springboks’ set-piece domination continued after the break.

Final judgments
Following the humiliation in Cardiff, Gatland must make some decisions.

Only Gareth Anscombe, Cuthbert, and number eight Taulupe Faletau did not compete in a 48-man training squad during the August schedule.

Dewi Lake and Ryan Elias, hookers Dewi Lake and Ryan Elias, lock Dafydd Jenkins, and back-row forward Taine Plumtree were all injured during Wales’ home and away matches against England.

Gatland said that a conversation will take place about how many players he takes to France who are currently injured.

It’s unclear how many people would have dropped out of the race after Saturday’s performance.

“It’s disappointing, physically we were dominated both sides of the ball, for me that was disappointing,” Wales coach Warren Gatland said on Amazon Prime. We also gave soft tries as gifts. Rio Dyer’s yellow card seemed severe to me; from the angles we saw, it appeared to touch a green hand first, followed by a penalty try and yellow card. Then, right after that, we conceded from the start. It certainly changed the mood heading into halftime because we had to pursue it.

“We could have played a couple of players today who had a few niggles, but we wanted to be fully training all week to try and build some confidence around that.” There were some inexperienced players present, and maybe there will be some learning.

“I felt South Africa were excellent. They made few mistakes, carried the ball efficiently, and their defense put us under pressure. It’s an experience for a lot of those people playing against them, world champions, fully loaded.

“It’s about looking back at some of the soft points we conceded and where we can fix those problems before halftime.” They are undeniably repairable. We need to improve in terms of contact area and clearing out, as well as defensively coming off the line a little more and winning some of those collisions. We let them set the tempo of the game and played on the offensive.

“As a coaching team, we’ll return to the hotel tonight and get as close to the final squad as we can.” We’ll then reassemble on Sunday morning, and if we have any concerns about the team, we’ll inform the players on Monday.”

Wales squad: C Evans; Rogers, Grady, J Williams, Dyer; Costelow, Hardy; Domachowski, Dee, Assiratti, Carter, Rowlands, Lydiate, Morgan (captain), Wainwright.

Parry, N Smith, H Thomas, Teddy Williams, Basham, Tomos Williams, Llewellyn, and Rees-Zammit are the replacements.

South Africa: Moodie, Kriel, de Allende, Kolbe; Libbok, J Hendrikse; Kitshoff, Marx, Malherbe, Kleyn, Snyman, Kolisi (captain), du Toit, Wiese.

Mbonambi, Nche, Koch, Mostert, van Staden, Vermeulen, G Williams, and Willemse are the replacements.

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