19/07/2026
So, as per normal, here is my view on yesterday's game.
Mandela Day at Kings Park delivered exactly what everyone predicted and somehow still managed to annoy the one team that won by 43 points. South Africa scored seven tries against Wales, kept a clean sheet, and walked off looking like a man who ordered a five-course meal and complained about the napkin folding.
Final score 43-0, the kind of scoreline that should come with a complimentary trophy and a moment of reflection, neither of which the Springboks seemed interested in.
The scrum was less a rugby contest than a public ex*****on. Wales' front row got walked backwards so consistently that by the second half their scrum-half must have wondered if he'd accidentally joined a conveyor belt demonstration.
One prop got yellow carded, came back on, and immediately folded again, proving that even a fresh pair of legs cannot fix a structural engineering problem. These okes were kak.
Wales were at one point penalised for retreating from a scrum they had already lost, which is the rugby equivalent of getting a parking ticket while your car is being towed.....Go figure.
To Wales' credit, after conceding like they were auditioning for a highlight reel of missed tackles, they actually steadied up and had a proper go, camping in the Boks' 22 four times without anything to show for it except the moral victory of not being embarrassed by 70 points this time. Progress, of a sort I would say.
Meanwhile South Africa handed out four debut caps and each debutant celebrated by playing like they had been doing this for a decade. One of them scored twice and set up two more on his home ground, which is either destiny or extremely good scriptwriting.
The 36-year-old scrumhalf pulling strings in the middle of it all looked less like a player nearing retirement and more like a chess grandmaster who occasionally lets the junior players make a move.
And still, despite the tries, the shutout, and the demolition derby up front, the Boks apparently walked off annoyed about handling errors and a 22 minute stretch where they had all the ball and nothing to show for it. Which tells you everything about a team that treats a 43-0 win as a disappointing rough draft.
Fassi shook off some rust with a 5 out of 10, leaking handling errors before an early substitution.
Debutant Jaco Williams stole the show with two try involvements and an 8 out of 10 that reads like a preview of the next ten years. He was good on the day
Kriel cruised to a tidy 7 off the back of other people's good work, while De Allende quietly glued the midfield together for another 7 without seeking applause.
Arendse locked down his wing and nabbed a try for a 6, and teenage flyhalf Vusi Moyo looked disturbingly composed for his debut, earning an 8 behind a dominant pack. Reinach chipped in a workmanlike 6 despite a few wayward passes.
Upfront, the props ran a full demolition service. Sadie and Steenekamp both scored 8s for turning the Welsh scrum into a cautionary tale, while Marx continued his one man award tour with another 8.
Jasper Wiese trampled in for an early try, doing his best impression of a man who takes defensive resistance personally.
Paul de Villiers fumbled the ball four separate times and still walked off with man of the match, proof that the award occasionally gets handed out on vibes alone. Van Heerden and Cobus Wiese quietly did excellent work while everyone else hogged the headlines, and the bench, Libbok, Willemse and a returning Jantjies, wandered on just in time to keep the machine ticking over without breaking a sweat.
Meanwhile the All Blacks put 40 on Ireland the same day, so July ends with both southern hemisphere heavyweights top of the table, one of them thrilled, and one of them scowling at their own scoreline like it owes them money.
Congrats Boks, Congrats Dricus.
Today is a good day to have a good day.
Peace
