Springboks blank Wales with 11 tries: Four takeaways

The Springboks secured their second whitewash of the season, beating Wales 11 tries to none in a 73–0 win in Cardiff on Saturday.

The Boks elevated their first-half performance, where they scored four tries and led 28-0, to completely control the game and demoralise the Welsh side. Their tally was the highest any team has ever put on Wales in Cardiff.

Wales finish their season with just two wins from 11 matches, while the Springboks have now won 13 out of 15 games. That includes a clean sweep in their five-match tour of Europe.

Here are four takeaways from the match.

More scrum destruction

The Springboks continued their scrum dominance from Ireland last week, where they won all 16 of their scrums and earned six scrum penalties.

The Boks drove a scrum right over the Wales try line in the 30th minute, Jasper Wiese, in the pack, simply putting his hand on the ball as it rolled over the line to score the try.

They continued to win scrum penalties against Wales, but didn’t compound the pressure like they did against Ireland, after Wales continually collapsed the set-piece.

7-1 bench split in Cobus Reinach’s 50th Test

The Springboks were forced to play a 7-1 bench split due to the match falling outside World Rugby’s official Test window – making European-based players unavailable – while the Boks allowed some South African and Japanese-based players to return home for the resumption of their leagues.

Scrumhalf Cobus Reinach was the only backline player on the bench.

All eight players came on at once when the Springboks were 49-0 up in the 51st minute. They didn’t drop the momentum, maintaining set-piece dominance while the backline continued to shine.

Another Sacha special

World Rugby’s 2025 dream team flyhalf, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, had another exceptional performance.

He recorded his eighth and ninth tries for the Boks this year, going over 100 for the season while still controlling the game brilliantly from No 10.

His try from a tap-and-go and a dash through defenders in the 47th minute was brilliant. His second came from an overlap in the 63rd minute. He also slotted nine of his 11 conversions, though most were straightforward. He finished with 28 individual points.

Eben Etzebeth’s red card

It didn’t take long for the Springboks to be awarded another red card.

Eben Etzebeth followed Lood de Jager (no-arms tackle against France) and Franco Mostert’s (dangerous tackle against Italy), with a red card for gouging the eye of an opponent during a brawl right at the end of the Wales Test.

While Mostert’s was rescinded, Etzebeth’s was obvious foul play. He will receive a ban going into the next season.