In the end, it wasn’t to be. Wales lost the series-deciding third Test against South Africa in Capetown – and never really looked like winning.
While Wayne Pivac’s men trailed only 17-14 after 48 minutes, in truth the final score flattered them.
The Springboks made their power tell, with tries from Handre Pollard, Bongi Mbonambi and Siya Kolisi all coming as a result of sheer brute force.
Wales clung on and scored a superbly crafted try from open play that was finished off by flanker Tommy Reffell.
But they were reliant on Dan Biggar’s boot for their other points and, for all the heart, desire and bravery they showed, could easily have gone down to a heavier reverse, with the world champions being denied three tries by the TMO.
Wales were still in it going into the final 10 minutes, but they threw away promising attacking positions, and there can be no complaints about the eventual outcome.
Power tells eventually
Wales went into this Test having made just five entries into the South African 22 in the first two encounters combined.
It’s was a statistic that summed up the discrepancy in levels of sheer power between themselves and the Springboks.
That Wales went into this denouement with a chance of a series win said it all about their ability to roll with some forceful punches, to improvise and to work the scoreboard when opportunities came their way.
But the dam burst here. The three South Africa tries owed everything to brute force, two coming if not directly then via rolling mauls and the other from an almighty shove at a scrum.
This was a sobering reminder that rugby is first and foremost a power game, and the Six Nations also demonstrated that Wales lack power against the best sides in the world.
Warren Gatland always put a premium on the commodity throughout his tenure, much to the purists’ frustration.
But his riposte was always the same – if you lose the collisions, you lose the game.
Torrid first 15 minutes
If the match had continued in the way it began for 80 minutes, Wales might easily have been on the end of a record defeat.
The opening 15 minutes was a painful mis-match, real under-16s v under-18s type stuff.
Wales lost the aerial battle, Liam Williams and then Dan Bigger, twice, being guilty of either spilling Springbok high kicks or being beaten to the ball by a green shirt.
Wales got nowhere on the gain-line, yet again, and were mashed at the first two scrums which saw the red-shirted pack back-pedalling pitifully.
The second set-piece retreat created the wave of phases from which Handre Pollard claimed the first try, with the fly-half’s earlier penalty and conversion establishing a 10-0 lead that looked like it might double by half-time.
South Africa’s two Damians – Willemse and De Allende – were both denied tries by the TMO in this period, underlining how it could have been so much worse for Wales.
Wales defy the gloom
It’s been a characteristic of the tour – just when you’re tempted to write off Wales, they produce something that renews hope.
This time it was a Tommy Reffell try in the 19th minute, the Leicester flanker finishing off a score that came after a series of raids involving George North, Josh Adams and Nick Tompkins.
The score was reward for Wales showing a greater desire to move the ball around the field in attack.
They weren’t wrong to do so either because the Springboks were once again showing their vastly superior collective power and their favouring of the lineout rolling maul as a primary attacking weapon.
Wales lack ruthlessness
When Dan Biggar sent over a close range penalty after Pieter-Steph du Toit had impeded Alun Wyn Jones in the 33rd minute, Pivac would have been doing mental cartwheels of joy to be just two points adrift given the general pattern up to that point.
But instead of shoring things up before half-time, they handed all the momentum back to South Africa with a careless end to the first half.
It began when they conceded possession straight from the restart. That allowed the Boks to build pressure which never yielded until the moment hooker Bongi Mbonambi barged over for his side’s second try from another expertly crafted rolling maul.
Pollard’s conversion changed the complexion at the midway point and left yet more question marks about Welsh game-management at critical junctures.
It capped a wildly fluctuating first half display by Wales who were seemed to be going toe-to-toe with the world champions one minute and having their faces rubbed in the dirt the next.
Defence immense
Wales showed once again that reports of their defensive demise following the departure of Shaun Edwards to France were greatly exaggerated.
When you’re under the cosh territorially for as long as they were in this Test match, you don’t avoid a thrashing unless you have something special defensively.
Wales had organisation and line-speed in this series decider, but they also scrambled heroically at times.
And that sort of defence is down to a state-of-mind.
You can criticise Wales for a fair few shortcomings on tour, but not for a lack of bravery or desire.
Pivac’s men, under the specialist tutelage of Gethin Jenkins, have punched above their weight – and how they’ve needed to.
Last chance squandered
Going into the final 10 minutes Wales were entitled to be something of a virtual spent force, physically and mentally.
But they had their chances to make the Springboks sweat and give themselves a shot at immortality. It was immensely frustrating to see those chances squandered.
They lost their own lineout in a great attacking position after Biggar had planted a penalty deep to touch.
Then when Adams made a lightning break down the left wing the support was too slow arriving and replacement back row man Kwagga Smith snaffled possession.
Thereafter Welsh fatigue saw them concede a string of penalties that further stymied any prospect of a grandstand finish.
Tour in credit
If you had said beforehand that Wales would win one Test and lose the other two by three and 16 points respectively, and be in with a chance of a series win on the third weekend, you would have been accused of wild optimism.
From that perspective, the tour will go down as a qualified success.
Wales have run the world champions a darn sight closer than anyone foresaw in their own back yard. They put up one hell of a fight and gave everything.
It’s fair to say, hope for the future is renewed.
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