With their pack again laying a superb foundation, the Boks simply had too much firepower for the Welsh, and scored 11 tries in the Test for their biggest victory of 2025.

Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu scored two tries and kicked nine conversions for a personal haul of 28 points, but a red card to Eben Etzebeth for making contact with the eyes of a Welsh player late in the game as tempers flared up took some gloss off the victory.

The tries came at regular intervals and if it wasn’t for some overeagerness by the Boks, they could have won by a bigger margin.

With their scrum again setting the tone, three of the four tries came from this phase, with Ethan Hooker, Jasper Wiese, and Morne van den Berg all scoring from the back of very strong scrums.

Gerhard Steenekamp opened the scoring after a great attack by the Boks, who took the ball through numerous phases in the Welsh 22 before the prop crashed over for his second Test try in his first start for South Africa.

Gerhard Steenekamp scored the first try of the match.

Gerhard Steenekamp scored the first try of the match.

Hooker was the beneficiary when the Boks hit right from a strong midfield scrum and after some good hands and an inside step, the speedster scored 14 minutes in.

Wales provided some resistance, but that crumbled in the 31st minute when Wiese scored from the back of yet another strong scrum, and Van den Berg capped a solid first half when he went over under the uprights after the South African pack again smashed their opponents in the set piece, followed by a great carry from Andre Esterhuizen.

The Boks mixed up their play in the second half, scoring a number of great tries, with Wilco Louw over for his second Test try after some relentless pressure from the Boks close to the Welsh tryline. 

Feinberg-Mngomezulu, who landed all four conversions in the first half, added the extras to make it 35-0 after 44 minutes.

Three minutes later, a moment of brilliance from Feinberg-Mngomezulu, who took at quick tap penalty, accelerated into a gap and scored, before he converted, made it 42-0 for the visitors, who were clearly shifting to a higher gear.

Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu speeds away for his first try.

Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu speeds away for his first try.

Then Canan Moodie scored after hacking ahead a loose ball and outpacing the Welsh defence for a 49-0 lead after as many minutes.

Rassie Erasmus then sent on the Bomb Squad as the Bok coach emptied the bench in one go and shortly thereafter, Esterhuizen – who was named the Player of the Match – scored the visitors’ eighth try in the corner after more enterprising attack in the Welsh half.

Feinberg-Mngomezulu missed the conversion – his first of the match – but South Africa led 54-0 after 54 minutes.

The Bok flyhalf then scored his second try of the Test before the hard-working Ruan Nortje, the only forward who wasn’t subbed earlier, grabbed his first five-pointer in his 18th Test after more relentless power play by the visitors and after the two successful conversions, the Boks led by 68-0 with 10 minutes to go.

Etzebeth scored the last try, not long before he received his marching orders, but that was enough for the Boks for their biggest win of the season.

Scorers:

Wales 0

Springboks 73 (28) – Tries: Gerhard Steenekamp, Ethan Hooker, Jasper Wiese, Morne van den Berg, Wilco Louw, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (2), Canan Moodie, Andre Esterhuizen, Ruan Nortje, Eben Etzebeth. Conversions: Feinberg-Mngomezulu (9).