'I said in the week he is probably our next Frans Steyn'

Springboks head coach Jacques Nienaber has admitted that the Springboks kicking game “didn’t function” after his side came from behind to beat Wales with the last kick of the game in Pretoria.

He also had plenty of praise for Damian Willemse – who he likened to Springbok utility great Frans Steyn. Willemse kicked a pressure penalty after the hooter to secure South Africa a 32-29 victory over ill-disciplined Wales in a see-saw Test at a raucous Loftus Versfeld.

The tourists took the world champions close on Saturday, but paid for cynical play in their own 22 as they lost four players to yellow cards and conceded a penalty-try.

Ireland head coach Andy Farrell after defeat to the All Blacks in the first test | Ireland post-match press conference

Ireland head coach Andy Farrell after defeat to the All Blacks in the first test | Ireland post-match press conference

The Springboks were playing in front of spectators at home for the first time in three years because of coronavirus restrictions. The Welsh silenced them early.

They led 18-3 at halftime with the help of two Louis Rees-Zammit tries, and blunted the world champions against all expectations for the first 40 minutes at Loftus Versfeld.

South Africa ground back into the game in the second half through the forward pack, with rolling maul tries from hooker Bongi Mbonambi and his replacement, Malcolm Marx.

Wing Cheslin Kolbe added a third then a penalty try from a lineout maul which was collapsed gave South Africa the lead for the first time in the 75th minute, 29-24.

But Wales, who were down to 12 men at one point with three players in the sin-bin in the final minutes, somehow found enough grit to score from their own rolling maul and force South Africa to scramble desperately for a victory.

Former captain Alun Wyn Jones came back from the bin just before the try, but Wales still had only 13 players on the field when replacement forward Dewi Lake drove over in the 77th minute to tie the score at 29-29.

“I’d much rather focus on the second half,” said Nienaber when asked about the difficult first 40 against a feisty Wales. “The second half was pretty much the performance we were looking for. Things didn’t go for us in the first half; we didn’t start well. We started with intensity and a good attitude, but our execution let us down and we’ll have to work on that.”

This is peak rugby ?

Dan Biggar having a confrontation with a South African player, whilst Faf de Klerk laughs and spins the ball effortlessly on his index finger ?

I'm all for this kind of rugby #SAvWAL pic.twitter.com/Mktap78AN9

— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) July 2, 2022

“We came back form 18-3 and I said to the guys afterwards that they never gave up,” said Nienaber.“To score 29 points in the second half was great. They stayed calm and composed and got the job done.”

“Our kicking game wasn’t functioning,” said Nienaber. “It’s probably the one reason why we struggled to get out of our half. It’s probably the one thing we will have to improve.

“But the 29 points we scored in the second half was really good – but the first half didn’t go as we planned. We created some opportunities, but we didn’t capitalise, and they created two great opportunities which they finished off.”

Nienaber had plenty of praise for Willemse, who replaced Elton Jantjies after a nightmare performance for the starter . “I thought Damian did well,” he said.

“Like we said during the week, he is a ‘project’, and he has been a project since 2018. We’ve slowly been giving him more confidence and game time in what we want him to do.

“I said in the week he is probably our next Frans Steyn covering 10, 12 and 15 and today he had to cover 10 and 15 for us and I think he did it excellently.”