Wales put the boot into beleaguered South Africa

They have to play without fear and enjoy it.

The bare statistics of Wales’ autumn series shout success. And hopefully, this is the start of a new beginning for South African rugby.

Wales have not managed that since 2002.

Fullback Leigh Halfpenny kicked 17 points, while hooker Ken Owens and flanker Justin Tipuric crossed for second-half tries, giving Wales a record 27-13 triumph against the Springboks.

The appointment of Allister Coetzee at the beginning of the year was widely welcomed among Springbok supporters and media alike but the year has turned into a bit of a disaster.

JUSTIN TIPURIC finally showed what Wales are capable of with a fantastic solo try to banish the dismal Boks.

Pat Lambie (left) and Lood de Jager can’t hide their disappointment in Caridff.

Yes, bigger beasts than this South Africa.

The defeat was their eighth in 2016, something that has never happened before.

Mr Mark Alexander said plans to bring governance structures more in line with the demands of professional sport were already well advanced while the immediate question of what to do about Springbok results was the organisation’s No 1 priority.

“We’ve reached our target so I am delighted with the players’ effort and attitude over the past five weeks and it has paid off with a win today”, said Howley.

“I could see in training on Tuesday that we had moved on”, he added.

No need for interpretation there.

“Wales are especially good at the breakdown and they make excellent decisions there”, Strauss said. Because of that, they should have a go in an absolutely fearless manner.With a backline of Faf de Klerk, Jantjies, Janse van Rensburg, Francois Venter, Ruan Combrinck, Jamba Ulengo and Johan Goosen, they seemingly have the right players to do that. It cost three more points as well as 10 minutes down to 14 men. We beat South Africa quite comfortably. They have only beaten them twice in the past 100 years, although the most recent of those wins came two years ago.

“We obviously live in a country where results are important for the national team and I am definitely not proud about the way this season has gone – it’s way below what is expected of the Springbok team. A win against Wales wouldn’t put things right but it would help us as a team”, Strauss told a news conference on Friday.

It hasn’t gotten any better as the South Africans headed north for their end of year tour. “We have always encouraged our squad to play because we feel we have X-factor players”.

“I think there is another level in us and we will have to find that level when we next meet up for the Six Nations if we are to match the likes of England and Ireland”. The last time all 74,500 tickets were sold for anyone other than New Zealand was in 2009 against Australia.

Howley, holding the reins while Warren Gatland is on another Lions sabbatical, has come under fire for the spluttering autumn showings but stressed he hasn’t felt the heat.

While South Africa will go into the Principality Stadium clash as underdogs, they can at least take comfort from an outstanding record against Wales that has seen them win 28 of the previous 31 fixtures and Coetzee is not expecting a hangover from the Italy loss.