The Springboks retained the Qatar Airline Cup with a clinical 41-13 win over Wales at the Twickenham Stadium. The Springboks won the cup in 2023 against the All Blacks.
The sides changed sides after an "exciting" first half with a one-point lead to the Springboks, however, the Springboks, maybe just had the momentum in their favour. The Springboks were a lot more clinical in the second half applying a lot of scoreboard pressure and adding twenty-seven unanswered points to win 41-13
The Springboks started like a house on fire and scored the first try of the match following great hands by the Springboks backline to put Makazole Mapimpi in space out wide to stroll over. Three minutes later, Wales struck back with a converted penalty to reduce the Springboks lead to 07-03.
A brilliant break by Evan Roos, who was stopped a meter short of Wales' scoreline, led to a yellow card for Wales. Wales conceded several penalties in their red zone, after which the Springboks were awarded a penalty try, whereafter Wales received their second yellow card in minutes.
With ten minutes to play, an absolutely disgraceful decision by the referees saw Aphelele Fassi receiving a yellow card. Wales kicked the ball to the corner and hooker Dewi Lake scored from the back of a lineout-maul to reduce the Springboks lead to just four points.
Munites later Costelow converted a penalty to make it a one-point game and five minutes to play in the first half. The Springboks led 14-13 at the halftime break.
The Springboks started the second half as they did in the first half creating space for Makazole Mapimpi with brilliant handling to score in the corner, again. The Springboks led 21-13 following a conversion from the corner by Jordan Hendrikse.
The Springboks continued the scoreboard pressure and converted two penalties during the first twenty-five minutes of play in the second half to extend their lead to 27-13 and thirty minutes to play.
Bongi Mbonambi scored the Springboks' fourth try from the back of a five-meter lineout-maul to extend the Springboks' lead to 34-13.
With five minutes to play Edwill van der Merwe danced his way through the middle of a maul to score his first try in a Springbok jersey to extend the Springboks lead to 41-13.
Scorers:
Springboks: Tries: Makazole Mapimpi (2), Penalty Try, Bongi Mbonambi, Edwill van der Merwe. Conversions: Jordan Hendrikse (2), Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (2). Penalties: Jordan Hendrikse, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.
Wales: Try: Dewi Lake. Conversions: Sam Costelow. Penalties: Sam Costelow (2).
Teams:
Springboks: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Edwill van der Merwe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Jordan Hendrikse, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit (c), 6 Kwagga Smith, 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Ox Nche. Replacements: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 18 Frans Malherbe, 19 Salmaan Moerat, 20 Ben-Jason Dixon, 21 Grant Williams, 22 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 23 Damian de Allende.
Wales: 15 Cameron Winnett, 14 Liam Williams, 13 Owen Watkin, 12 Mason Grady, 11 Rio Dyer, 10 Sam Costelow, 9 Ellis Bevan, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 James Botham, 6 Taine Plumtree, 5 Ben Carter, 4 Matthew Screech, 3 Keiron Assiratti, 2 Dewi Lake (c), 1 Gareth Thomas. Replacements: 16 Evan Lloyd, 17 Kemsley Mathias, 18 Harri O’Connor, 19 James Ratti, 20 Mackenzie Martin, 21 Gareth Davies, 22 Eddie James, 23 Jacob Beetham.