South Africa beat Wales 43-0 in Durban on Saturday, the second time in eight months the Springboks have held the Welsh scoreless. The November defeat in Cardiff ended 73-0, though that match was played outside the official Test window and Wales were without their England and France-based players.
Seven different Springboks crossed the whitewash: Jasper Wiese, Cobus Reinach, Jesse Kriel, Jaco Williams, Herschel Jantjies, Kurt-Lee Arendse and Paul de Villiers. Wayward goal-kicking was all that prevented a third successive 50-plus-point defeat for Wales against the world champions.
Wales head coach Steve Tandy acknowledged the gulf in class without deflecting from his side's own shortcomings. "South Africa are physical at the breakdown and they're a well-oiled defensive unit," he said. "We probably could have been a bit more ruthless when we had three or four penalties in a row, but we didn't take that."
Tandy pointed to a critical period around half-time as the moment the scoreline ballooned. "There were a couple of moments right before half-time and straight after half-time that blows it up a bit more," he said.
The defeat continues a difficult first year for Tandy, whose record stands at three wins from 12 Tests. Those victories have come against Italy, Japan and Fiji. Wales have conceded more than 50 points against Argentina, France, New Zealand and South Africa in that time, with England posting 48 at Allianz Stadium.
"You're coming up against the best team, probably one of the most physical in the world," Tandy said. "These are experiences we have to go through, unfortunately. There's no dead time for us — we'll go back and reflect, see what we've done well, but also where we need to go and how quickly we go there."