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Springbok captain Siya Kolisi made a remarkable return to fitness from a serious knee injury by leading his side to a comprehensive 52-16 victory over an inexperienced Wales side at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff on Saturday.
Kolisi, who was in a race against time to be fit to skipper at the Boks at the Rugby World Cup in France, put in a superb performance in the first 40 minutes.
He not only carried the ball aggressively in contact but had a hand in the first of their eight tries when he sent hooker Malcolm Marx crashing over early in the first half.
Winger Canan Moodie and centre Jesse Kriel ran in a brace of tries each as South Africa flexed their considerable muscle. Moodie (20) was named man of the match.
The Boks initially struggled under the high ball at the start of the game, but they quickly regained the ascendency by completely overpowering the Welsh pack in the scrums.
This together with their rush defence put the home-side under tremendous pressure and allowed their fleet-footed back to run amok
Kolisi said he was satisfied with his side’s performance even though there were areas of their game they would have to improve on before they tackle the All Blacks in their final warm-up game at Twickenham next week.
“It felt amazing to be back, I didn’t have any fear going into the game.” the Kolisi said in an online press conference.
“The team did really well. However, we need to be more accurate and sharpen up on our discipline,” he added.
Bok coach Jacques Nienaber was delighted with his captain’s successful return from injury
“I am very happy for Siya and his family. There was obviously a lot of work done behind the scenes to get him back to full fitness in such a short space of time,” Nienaber said.
The test against the Welsh served as the penultimate warm-up game before the Rugby World Cup kicks off in France on 8 September. The Bok coach feels his side still has a bit of work to do if they want to successfully defend their Willam Webb Ellis title.
“The negatives are that there were a few missed chances. In a world Cup we will have to take those opportunities. The discipline in the second half was not up to scratch.
“We are in a draw (at the World Cup which is basically a knock-out in every game, so we will have to improve in those areas.”
Nienaber also feels that not too much could be read into the big scoreline.
“Wales could’ve selected a lot more experienced side. They wanted to see which players on the fringes they can take to the World Cup, so we cannot read too much into this victory,” he added.
Point scorers:
Wales – 16 (9)
Try: Sam Parry
Conversion: Cai Evans
Penalties: Sam Costelow (3)
Springboks – 52 (24)
Tries: Jesse Kriel (2), Canan Moodie (2) Malcolm Marx, penalty try, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Damian Willemse
Conversions: Manie Libbok (5)