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South Africa ease to seven-try win over pointless Wales
South Africa cruised to a 43-0 bonus-point victory over Wales in Durban in round three of the Nations Championship, scoring seven tries without needing several first-choice players. The result extends Wales's winless run against the Springboks, who have now beaten them by an aggregate score of 116-0 across their last two meetings, and underlines the gap between the world's top-ranked side and Steve Tandy's struggling team, who slip to a second successive defeat.
South Africa's tries came from Jasper Wiese, Cobus Reinach, Jessie Kriel, Jaco Williams, Herschel Jantjies, Kurt-Lee Arendse and Paul de Villiers, with debutant fly-half Vusi Moyo, 20, kicking three conversions on his first cap. Rassie Erasmus again made ten changes to his starting side, handing out four new caps, yet still made light work of Wales, who were further hit by a late injury withdrawal for wing Josh Adams. The win was South Africa's 11th in a row and keeps them top of the Nations Championship's northern hemisphere table at the halfway stage, while Tandy's first season in charge stands at three wins from twelve games.
In short
- South Africa beat Wales 43-0 in the Nations Championship
- Springboks scored seven tries despite resting several stars
- Wales suffer second straight defeat under coach Steve Tandy
Explained simply
The Nations Championship is rugby union's newest international competition, created this year to bring together Europe's leading teams with top sides from the southern hemisphere, including South Africa and Wales. It marks a significant change to how international rugby's elite nations compete at this level.
South Africa are the world's highest-ranked rugby team and have consistently performed at the highest level of international competition, whilst Wales have been struggling and are undergoing a period of rebuilding. Steve Tandy was appointed as Wales coach at the start of this season, tasked with reversing the team's poor recent form.
Matches between world-class sides and rebuilding nations illustrate the competitive divide in modern rugby union. The gulf between rugby's elite teams and other top-tier nations remains significant.