Wales denied historic victory over South Africa
A late try from the world champions breaks Welsh hearts in their Rugby World Cup opening clash.
Wales have been left “bitterly disappointed” after failing to press home the advantage against world champions South Africa in their Rugby World Cup opener.
The Springboks edged a 17-16 victory after finding themselves trailing in the second half against a dominant Welsh side.
Wales had leaked an early try to South Africa fullback Frans Steyn during a nightmare opening spell at Wellington Regional Stadium.
A Morne Steyn conversion and penalty edged South Africa ahead, but Wales came back, with fullback James Hook completing a penalty hat-trick that narrowed the gap to one point.
It got better for Wales in the 54th minute when a brilliant Rhys Priestland pass sent number eight Toby Faletau over for his first Wales touchdown.
Wales were ahead 16-10 and appeared to be in control of the game, but Springboks replacement winger Francois Hougaard scored a late try and Morne Steyn converted to give South Africa a nailbiting one-point lead.
Wales were denied a historic victory as Priestland missed an easy drop-goal attempt and Hook sent a tough penalty kick wide of the posts.
We’re bitterly disappointed. We came so close. We were quite confident all week but we came up just short. James Hook
Hook said: “We’re bitterly disappointed. We came so close. We were quite confident all week but we came up just short.
“We played really well and we didn’t quite get the victory and in a tournament like this, it’s all about getting the win.”
Earlier on Sunday, Ireland laboured to a 22-10 victory over an impressive United States side in their opener at a cold and wet Stadium Taranaki.
Ireland were predictably dominant but handling errors, slips, misplaced passes and poor execution meant Ireland ran in only three tries and missed out on the crucial four-try bonus point.
The Americans battled hard in defence as they continued the trend of impressive performances by the second-tier nations in the opening matches of the World Cup.
Captain Todd Clever said: “We were under a lot of pressure and I’m very proud of the guys.
“In the grand scheme of things this is just a game and we’re talking about thousands of lives, we were glad to have our chance to pay our respects,” he added, in reference to the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.