Here are your rugby morning headlines for Monday, July 4.
Lake can't wait for round two
Wales hooker Dewi Lake can't wait to have another crack at the world champions after his side's agonising defeat on Saturday night.
Coming off the bench, Lake levelled the scores at 29-29 in the closing minutes of the match, with Dan Biggar missing the conversion to take the lead. But it mattered little as South Africa claimed a three-point victory with Damian Willemse banging over a penalty in the last kick of the game.
That is how close Lake and his team-mates came to creating history by becoming the only Welsh side to win in South Africa.
The good news is that there are two more Tests to get that historic victory and Lake's attitude is 'bring it on'.
"It was a tough game. To be 18-3 up it is disappointing to let the game go away from us," he said after the match. "They are world champions for a reason, they were always going to come back at us and stay in the fight.
"We were doubted in the week by a lot of people and written off early. For us it was about putting pride back in the jersey. We are massively disappointed because we play this game to get the results against teams like this.
"When you are playing against the best in the world you can't give away 15 penalties and four yellow cards because you are not going to beat them. We have shown we are here to play, put up a fight and win games. Bring on the next two weeks."
He added: "The suggestion through the week was we had no chance at all and we could see a repeat of the 96-13 and we have proved that one already.
"So all that matters to us is the belief we have within our squad. If people want to back us along the way they are welcome to. We will have the bit between our teeth for the next two Tests and we are backing ourselves to do it."
Jantjies set to be dropped for second Test
South Africa are set to drop Elton Jantjies for Handre Pollard in the second Test, according to reports in South Africa.
In Pretoria, Jantjies was taken off at half-time, with veteran Willie le Roux brought on and full-back and Damian Willemse, who slotted the winning penalty, moving to fly-half.
After the match, coach Jacques Nienaber appeared to single out Jantjies, saying: "Our kicking game was not functioning.
“It is probably the one reason why we struggled to get out of our half (in the first half). It is probably the one thing we will have to improve.”
Pollard missed much of the first Test build-up due to French Top 14 commitments with Montpellier. Pieter-Steph du Toit is also likely to be recalled for the second Test.
Kolbe: Boks 'wanted it more'
Cheslin Kolbe believes the Springboks ended up on the winning team because they "wanted it" more than their Welsh counterparts.
Kolbe, who scored his 10th try in 19 Tests for the Boks in Pretoria on Saturday, said of the match: “Wales play a similar game to ours and in the end it was about who wanted it most.
“We stuck to the plan, and managed to execute it in the end. It was a team effort, and it was great that we could have a positive impact on the game."
He added: “The first 20 minutes was not on par with what we wanted, and it was not good enough. There were a few harsh words at half-time, but we are grown men and we want to make each other proud.
“In the last few minutes, we kept the ball, played in their half, and we lifted the intensity and maintained the pressure and tried to show more pride.”
Edwards to miss France's second Test due to Covid
The French Rugby Federation has confirmed that defence coach Shaun Edwards will miss Saturday's second Test against Japan after testing positive for Covid-19.
Former Wales defence coach Edwards, along with attack coach Laurent Labit, as well as backs Max Spring and Aymeric Luc, was prevented from flying to Japan with France after returning a positive test.
Edwards, 55, has tested negative in the most recent round of testing, but the FFR revealed he will not be joining the squad ahead of the final game at Tokyo Stadium as he is yet to make a complete recovery.
“Despite his negative test this morning, Shaun is not fully recovered from his 12 days of Covid,” an FFR official said. “After discussions with him, we thought it more reasonable that he does not travel to join us, and that he continues his work remotely.”
France beat Japan 42-23 in the opening game thanks to two tries from Damian Penaud as well as scores from Matthis Lebel, Yoram Moefana and Pierre Bourgarit.
Jonny Hill escapes citing for shove
England second row Jonny Hill has escaped a citing for shoving an Australian opponent in the face in Saturday's first Test defeat.
Hill forcefully struck Darcy Swain with the palms of both hands early in the match as part of an on-field feud with the Wallabies lock that reached boiling point in the 34th minute.
They clashed in the maul, with Hill pulling Swain's hair, and when they continued their tussle off the ball the Australian lost his cool by headbutting his rival.
Swain was sent off while Hill was shown a yellow card and head coach Eddie Jones later denied that England had deliberately set out out to provoke the Wallabies forward.
The citing officer has declined to trigger disciplinary proceedings against Hill after deciding his shove to the head was not a red-card offence. Swain, meanwhile, faces a hearing on Tuesday to determined what sanction he receives.
Jones has also evaded any investigation into his comments that referee James Doleman "evened up" the contest as a result of showing Swain a red card.
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