Pretoria (AFP) - Damian Willemse kicked an added-time penalty goal to give Rugby World Cup winners South Africa a dramatic 32-29 victory over Wales in a first Test thriller in Pretoria on Saturday.
The hotly fancied Springboks, who trailed by 15 points after a woeful first half performance, took full advantage of Welsh ill discipline to snatch victory.
Wales, nine places below top-ranked South Africa, were reduced to 12 men at one point in the closing stages due to yellow cards and finished with 13 men.
Captain and fly-half Dan Biggar was sin-binned late in the opening half and Alun Wyn Jones, two-try star Louis Rees-Zammit and Rhys Carre later suffered similar fates.
After a penalty try gave South Africa a 29-24 lead on 75 minutes, Wales hit back with hooker Dewi Lake barging over for a try to level the scores, but Biggar saw his conversion veer just right of the post.
Biggar was then penalised for a deliberate knock-on and Willemse, who started at full-back and moved to fly-half at half-time, held his nerve to steer the ball between the posts.
"The effort was huge, with the discipline we were on the wrong side of the referee today.We need to go away and have a look at the penalties we conceded and, of course the yellow cards," Wales coach Wayne Pivac told Sky Sports.
"It was a big step up from our last performance (a Six Nations loss to Italy last March).I'm clearly very disappointed with the discipline.
"What we can do is focus on the second Test, we get to play this game again in seven days' time, that's the one thing we can look forward to.
"I'm very proud, it was a big effort, but also very disappointed because it's one that got away," he added after the loss on a ground where Wales conceded 186 points in three previous Tests.
Jantjies ditched
The tourists began impressively and were ahead within 131 seconds when the pace of Rees-Zammit earned him a try to the surprise of most in the near-capacity 51,762 crowd at Loftus Versfeld stadium.
Wales stole a line-out, moved the ball speedily across the field to the winger and no Springbok came close to catching him.
Biggar missed the conversion, but atoned on nine minutes when he scored a drop goal for an eight-point advantage.
Rival playmaker Elton Jantjies missed his first penalty attempt, which hit both posts, before coming back into play, then converted his second for the only South African points of the half.
Biggar slotted a penalty for an 11-3 advantage, and Jantjies missed again with his third effort.
Gloucester's Rees-Zammit struck again on 32 minutes when Jantjies and captain Siya Kolisi failed to control a loose ball after a line-out and the winger raced through to score a try that Biggar converted.
Wales were temporarily reduced to 14 men close to half-time when Biggar was sin-binned for a professional foul, but the tourists defended stoutly for a shock 18-3 lead at the break.
South Africa ditched off-form Jantjies at half-time, bringing on veteran Willie le Roux at full-back and switching Willemse to the playmaker role.
Push-over tries by hooker Bongi Mbonambi and his replacement, Malcolm Marx, one of which Willemse converted, narrowed the gap to three points.
But Wales did not panic, forced South Africa into errors and two Biggar penalties gave the tourists a nine-point lead as they sought a first win in the republic after 10 losses in 48 years.
Winger Cheslin Kolbe scored a try and Willemse converted to leave just two points separating the sides.
Then came the penalty try, the Lake leveller and the last-gasp deciding Willemse three-pointer.
The second Test is in Bloemfontein next Saturday followed by the third in Cape Town on July 16 in a series that may prove closer than most pundits predicted.
