Rugby
KweséESPN Staff 6y

Springboks and Wales: The last five meetings

Rugby

Wales have beaten South Africa in their last two encounters, which were played at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

But the Springboks have dominated the Welsh overall, with 28 wins to four, while one match has ended a tie between then the two teams.

On Saturday, when the teams clash in an historic Test at the RFK Stadium in Washington DC, they will play their third match on neutral ground. The Boks won both those encounters, -- at the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand during the group stages and in the quarter-finals at the 2015 edition in England.

So, with the teams ready to resume their battle on Saturday night, KweséESPN looks back at the last five encounters between the two teams.

Wales 24 Springboks 22: 2 December, Cardiff

Wales shocked the Springboks with three converted tries in the first 35 minutes to take a 21-0. It seemed like the home side were on their way to one of their biggest victories over South Africa, but a young Bok side fought back and almost won the match. However, the fight back wasn't enough for Allister Coetzee to keep his job, as it ended up being his final match in charge of the Boks.

Wales 27 Springboks 13: 26 November 2016, Cardiff

Fullback Leigh Halfpenny kicked 17 points for the Welsh in a rather one-side encounter at the Millennium Stadium. The score doesn't accurately reflect it, but the Boks were worse than the 14-deficit suggests. Coetzee fielded a young team for the clash after making wholesale changes following a humiliating defeat to Italy the previous week. The only positive for South Africa after the Wales match was flank Uzair Cassiem's impressive debut.

Springboks 23 Wales 19 (Rugby World Cup): 17 October 2015, London

The Boks entered the quarter-finals of the World Cup still hurting from the defeat against Japan in their opening match. They needed master scrumhalf Fourie du Preez to pull this one out of the fire when he scored the decisive try five minutes from the end. How the Boks would have loved to clone him and haul him out for Test matches these days. The Boks went on to lose the semi-finals by two points against the All Blacks.

Wales 12 Springboks 6: 29 November 2014, Cardiff

Halfpenny kicked all of Wales' points as they managed their first victory over the Springboks in 15 years and only the second in the history of clashes between the two teams. Bok captain Jean de Villiers suffered a horrific knee injury in the match, but made a remarkable recovery to lead South Africa in the World Cup a year later. However, he was didn't make it past the group stages after suffering a broken jaw.

Springboks 31 Wales 30, 21 June 2014, Nelspruit

The Boks seemed to get the rub of the green in this decider at the Mbombela Stadium, and were awarded a penalty try in the 77th minute to clinch the series 2-0. In fact, Steve Walsh awarded the home side two penalty tries, while Wales were also on the receiving end of two yellow cards during the match.

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