Pretoria (AFP) - Wales captain Dan Biggar praised his team for a top-class effort but lamented a crucial lack of discipline that saw them suffer a heartbreaking 32-29 loss to South Africa in Pretoria on Saturday.
Wales led 18-3 at half-time after a clinical 40-minute display in the first of three Tests, but the 2019 Rugby World Cup winners mounted a stirring comeback to win through an added-time Damian Willemse penalty.
The Springboks trailed from the third to 74th minutes before a penalty try, awarded for collapsing a driving maul, gave the hosts a 29-24 advantage.
Wales, with only 13 men on the field due to yellow cards, levelled through a Dewi Lake try before Willemse snatched victory in the 83rd minute.
Biggar was among those guilty of ill discipline as he was yellow-carded late in the first half and his deliberate knock-on allowed Willemse to win a thriller.
It was sad climax for Wales, who had hoped to end a 10-match losing streak in the republic since first touring South Africa in 1964.
"I'm incredibly proud of the team -- it was a huge effort from minute one.Just a couple of key moments in the second half cost us.We put ourselves under pressure," Biggar said.
"We conceded a lot of penalties in the second half which gave away territory and invited their driving maul inside our 22, which is very difficult to stop.
"I'm really proud of the effort, but obviously it was a missed opportunity. We gave away some easy penalties, although we felt some were a little harsh."
'No stress'
Springboks skipper Siya Kolisi said his team had gone into the match knowing they were in for a long haul against a Wales team they had described as "desperate" during the Test build-up.
Wales suffered a stunning home loss to perennial strugglers Italy in the final round last March of the Six Nations Championship -- their fourth defeat in the five-round competition.
"It was tough in the first half because they stopped our mauls and we did not kick according to how we wanted.Wales controlled the game," admitted the World Cup-winning captain.
"But then the guys who came off the bench brought the energy we needed and we started going forward.
"I did not stress too much being 18-3 down because I knew we had not got our game right, and I knew that once we did, then the momentum would change.
"And it did.We started playing, we chased the game and took our opportunities very well.There was no panic, we never felt there was no way we were not going to come back," the flanker added.
The match was watched by a near-capacity 51,762 crowd -- the first time since Covid-19 restrictions were introduced early in 2020 that South Africa played in front of their supporters.
Coronavirus prevented the Springboks playing in 2020 and their six home matches last year were staged behind closed doors, including a three-Test series against the British and Irish Lions.
South Africa and Wales meet again next Saturday in central city Bloemfontein, and in Cape Town on July 16.
