Boks Come Up Short Against Wales in USA

Wales scored a late try to beat a young Springbok side by 22-20 in difficult conditions at the RFK Stadium in Washington DC on Saturday evening (SA time).

The Boks fought back strongly in the second half but in the end they just came up short, with mistakes at crucial times costing the team.

Wales led by 14-3 at the break thanks to two late first half tries, by Tomos Williams and Hallam Amos, but the Boks came back strong in the second half.

Both wings, Travis Ismaiel and Makazole Mapimpi, scored tries on debut, with Elton Jantjies converting both to see the scores tied at 17-all with 20 minutes to go.

Fourteen minutes later the Boks took the lead when Robert du Preez, who replaced Jantjies, slotted a penalty goal, but the lead didn’t last long when the replacement flyhalf had a kick charged down and the Welsh reserve hooker, Ryan Elias, scored the match-winning try.

No fewer than 13 Springboks made their Test debuts in the US capital city on Saturday, which certainly bodes well for the future.

Scorers:

Springboks 20 (3) – Tries: Travis Ismaiel, Makazole Mapimpi. Conversions: Elton Jantjies (2). Penalty goals: Jantjies, Robert du Preez.

Wales 22 (14) – Tries: Tomos Williams, Hallam Amos, Ryan Elias. Conversions: Gareth Anscombe (2). Penalty goal: Anscombe.

Also, speaking personally as a social media manager, it's just been nice to have some tweets to read – Saturday night is normally a quiet one. Cheers. #c4rugby #WALvRSA

— Channel 4 (@Channel4) June 2, 2018

https://twitter.com/theblitzdefence/status/1003035751246856192

Not only did Jantjies kick a tricky conversion from the sideline, he also does a great impression of trying to keep hold of a giant invisible balloon. #c4rugby #WALvRSA pic.twitter.com/mm3rWydv64

— Channel 4 (@Channel4) June 2, 2018

If you took 30 people who have never played rugby before, stuck them on a pitch with a cameramen who has never used a camera before, you have this. #WALvRSA

— Peter Cavey (@Twitspc) June 2, 2018