Francis bags maiden try in Welsh win

By Mark Stevens
24/11/18

A first-ever international try from Tomas Francis helped Wales complete a first clean sweep of their November test programme as they battled to a 20-11 victory over South Africa at the Principality Stadium.

Francis' first test try came after man-of-the-match Ellis Jenkins made the initial breakthrough, wrong-footing the South Africa defence close to the line before passing inside for the Exeter Chiefs prop to dot down.

Williams dotted down a 12th test try after George North had come inside in a deviation and a long pass over the defence made perfect use of the overlap for the fullback to score.

But a Handre Pollard penalty reduced the score and Kriel crossed over the line just before the break but the referee ruled the ball had been held up by some tenacious Welsh defence.

South Africa dominated the second half but could not break through the home defence in a brutal exchange of surges and tackles until Kriel eventually got his try in the 55th minute after a clever flip pass from Willie le Roux.

Elton Jantjies’s penalty seven minutes later made it 14-11 to set up the possibility of a Bok comeback but Biggar's arrival turned the game as Wales reaped the rewards for an intelligent and a mistake-free performance.

Post-game, Gatland was quick to praise his side on what has been a hugely successful Autumn period. He said: “That was the toughest game we’ve played this autumn.

“There were aspects of the game that we need to challenge the players on. They can go away with their regions and get away with things, but against the very best teams, technically, you have to be very good.

“The good things about these guys at the moment is they can get themselves into a hole and can dig themselves out. They kept their composure, they’re comfortable without the ball and what’s been great this autumn has been the impact of the bench. It’s made a significant impact in all games.

“We’re in a good place at the moment. I don’t think we’ve lost at home this year. That’s a nice feeling in the changing rooms, but we know there’s a lot of work to do if we want to have a good World Cup.”