Wales had four yellow cards across the first Test, with Dan Biggar sent to the sin bin in the first half; Willemse's penalty in the 82nd minute was the difference between the two sides; Wales still have to wait for their first victory in South Africa
Sunday 3 July 2022 12:42, UK
Damian Willemse broke Welsh hearts with the final kick of a pulsating Test match as world champions South Africa triumphed 32-29 at Loftus Versfeld.
Willemse's penalty - awarded following a deliberate knock-on by Wales captain Dan Biggar - denied Wales a draw and for large parts of a breath-taking contest, Wayne Pivac's team looked destined to end 58 years of hurt by claiming a first victory over the Springboks in South Africa.
Wales, though, were briefly reduced to 12 men during the frantic closing stages after Rees-Zammit, Alun Wyn Jones and Rhys Carre received yellow cards.
A capacity 50,000 crowd - the Springboks' first full house in South Africa since they won the World Cup 32 months ago - saw their heroes go 29-24 ahead through a 75th-minute penalty try but Wales' replacement hooker Dewi Lake's touchdown hauled Wales level before Willemse landed his winning kick.
South Africa scored tries through Bongi Mbonambi, Malcolm Marx and Cheslin Kolbe, in addition to the penalty try, while Willemse kicked two conversions and a penalty, and Elton Jantjies landed a penalty, with Biggar kicking three
penalties, a drop-goal and a conversion.
The first half started brilliantly for Wales as Rees-Zammit got off to a dream start, crossing the line after two minutes and showing some pace down the wing.
Captain Biggar made up for missing the try conversion just five minutes later as he sent over a magnificent drop goal to extend Wales' lead to 8-0 and assert some real dominance.
After missing an earlier penalty, Elton Jantjies got the Springboks off the mark in the 16th minute with their only points of the first half and started a period of Springboks momentum.
However, an ill-timed kick from Jantjies was taken well by Josh Adams on Wales' try line to mark the end of South Africa's dominance as Wales soaked up the pressure.
After missing that opportunity, the Springboks were punished further as some quick thinking from Rees-Zammit off a South Africa line-out saw him find the ball with his boot and chase it through for his second try of the half.
With just two minutes left of the half, South Africa looked sure to score when Faf de Klerk broke down the middle of the field but a brilliant cover tackle from Biggar stopped the scrum half in his tracks.
Despite some excellent defending from the captain, he was deemed to have held down De Klerk and was sin binned for his efforts.
The start of the second half provided just as much drama as the first with South Africa taking the opportunity to attack early after multiple penalties brought them close enough to Wales' line to maul and send Bongi Mbonambi powering over after 45 minutes, Willemse stepping up to kicking duties and converting.
Five minutes later, Malcolm Marx powered over in the exact same fashion, peeling off the back of the maul and proving too much for Wales to defend against to bring the score to 18-15.
A penalty to Wales on the 62nd minute extended their lead to more than a converted try but just two minutes later, Cheslin Kolbe pounced on a nicely-weighted grubber kick to dive over in the corner, the conversion from Willemse putting the home side within two points of Wales.
Wyn Jones was then sent to the sin bin to begin a drama-filled final 10 minutes.
Rees-Zammit was also sin-binned following a technical infringement, reducing Wales to 13 players, and South Africa went ahead with a penalty try after Wales collapsed a maul, before Carre became their fourth player to be sin-binned.
While all hope looked lost for Wales, a moment of brilliance drew scores level at 29-29 as Lake took advantage of territory gained from a penalty and powered over in the 76th minute.
Biggar stepped up to convert but his attempt drifted wide and Wales were left to defend for the final few minutes.
But there was one last heartbreaking twist in the tale for Wales as Biggar was penalised for a deliberate knock-on, giving Willemse the match-winning conversion attempt in front of the sticks to seal a dramatic 32-29 win for the Springboks.
Wales' head coach Wayne Pivac said: "It was a huge effort but when you are down 12 men against the world champions it is very, very difficult. Discipline, we were on the wrong side of the referee today.
"The effort was there. It was more under pressure and fatigue. It's such a shame we lost it at the end, I would have taken a draw.
"I'm disappointed for the players as they have worked so hard this week.
"I'm proud but it's one that got away, world champions in their back yard. We will roll our sleeves for next week."
Wales captain Dan Biggar said: "I have been around the game long enough to have had some good moments, and that was a bit of a disappointing moment not to nail off.
"I thought the penalty at the end was a little bit harsh. The ball has just hit my hand, as opposed to me slapping it down. It's the way it is.
"I don't think anybody would have predicted the game would have worked out like that at midday today.
"The last thing I want to do is to come into a press conference and be brave losers. It was a definite missed opportunity.
"For us to put up a show in the first Test at altitude and against the world champions, there is no reason why we can't get better next week.
"It is a Test match. We wanted to get in amongst it and not take a backward step. That is part of the game at the minute.
"If you stand off South Africa out here, you are going to get steam-rolled pretty quickly.
"I didn't see any issue. They were as niggly and competitive as we were, but that was perfect for us - exactly what we wanted.
"That is exactly what you want from a Test match - you want it aggressive and abrasive. There was no dirty play. You shake hands afterwards and there is no issue."
Wales are next in action for their second Test of the three-Test series v South Africa in a week's time on Saturday, July 9 - live on Sky Sports Action from 3:30pm (kick-off at 4:05pm).
