 |
| ** Springboks edge Wales in thriller  John Smit of South Africa is wrapped up by Toby Faletau #8 and Adam Jones of Wales during the IRB 2011 Rugby World Cup Pool D match between South Africa and Wales on September 11, 2011 in Wellington, New Zealand. ( September 10, 2011 - Photos by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images AsiaPac) *Defending champions South Africa were made to work extremely hard for a 17-16 win over Wales in a thrilling encounter in Wellington on Sunday. Trailing 16-10 with fifteen minutes left, the Springboks had to dig deep to produce a try for replacement wing Francois Hougaard and clinch a hard-fought victory by the skin of their teeth. After going behind in the early stages (South Africa led 10-6 at the break) Wales produced an outstanding hour of rugby to wrestle the lead back from the pool favourites. Wales could not complain of a lack of opportunities as they had the lion's share of possession for the majority of the game. Indeed, much of the pre-game talk centred around the Welsh pack's ability to match their opponents for physicality, but the men in red stood up to the challenge and have every reason to feel bitterly disappointed after coming mighty close to a memorable win. * Man of the match: A mention must go to Springbok openside Heinrich Brüssow, who was a tackling machine. But Wales skipper Sam Warburton was the standout player with a phenomenal display at the breakdown. http://www.planetrugby.com/story/0,25883,16024_7169526,00.html **  Pierre Spies of South Africa is tackled by Dan Lydiate (L) and Rhys Priestland (R) of Wales ** next test: 9-17 SA v Fiji Wellington * 9-18 Wales v Somoa Hamilton *** |
