The Dragon beats the 'Bok

Wales 12-6 South Africa, it makes easy reading for every Welshman. In fact the fifty thousand who were in the ground will be able to echo the age old saying "I was there", the day Wales beat a Southern Hemisphere side. It certainly wasn't a game to get the crowd of their seats, filled with brutal collisions instead of sublime tries. It wasn't a complete performance from Gatland's men, with certain areas still needing considerable work, and it wasn't a South Africa worthy of their number two place in the world but a win's a win.

There are no tries to analyse this week, but Wales did have some half chances. Most of these came from superb use of the hard running Jamie Roberts, or more precisely not using him, and it's been a trait of this Autumn. For a long time Wales have been reprimanded for their over use of Jamie Roberts in an attempt to get over the gainline, they still do but they use him more cleverly with better running angles used, Dan Biggar attracting defensive attention and simple switches just to give the big man a better chance to hit a weak shoulder. However what Wales did today was use Roberts - and Jonathan Davies often too - to hold the defence and then spread the ball wide quickly. Crucially we saw Leigh Halfpenny joining the attack outside the 13 channel, giving Wales an extra man in attack and creating the overlap. This tactic directly lead to two 5m lineouts for Wales, of which they failed to capitalise we will come on to that later. It's excellent to see Wales changing their style in the wake of noticeable failures during the 2014 Six Nations, the "Warren-ball" theme is still noticeable but there seems to be more of a willingness to go wide and use the immense threat Wales posses on the flanks. The wide play was diminished as the game went on and the outside backs had to go hunting for the ball, this was one of the major changes that should be noticed, the likes of Cuthbert and North have often been forgotten about as they sit waiting on the wing, Saturday Cuthbert tried his hardest to have an influence on an attritional game and it should be commended. Hopefully George North will take note upon his return and use his considerable ability to truly have an impact on the international stage.

The other major facet of the game upon which Wales will pride themselves after Saturday is their defence. The game was a collage of brutal collisions primarily around the halfway line, as both teams attempted to bust through each other. This was typified by Welsh fly-half Dan Biggar, it is a common sight to see sides attempting to exploit the fly-half channel to gain ground, it's incredibly rare to see a fly-half denying that ground. It was one of many facets that meant Biggar was awarded the man-of-the-match. Biggar complimented his monumental defensive display of 11 tackles, with an eye for
space and the execution to exploit it. Multiple times he planted kicks with precision to allow a superb chase from wingers in an attempt to reclaim the ball, or prevent any sort of South African counter attack. Speaking of gathering kicks, more than once the man threw himself into the air to contest the ball, showing a skill that few other fly-halves have.

Both teams were putting their bodies on the line with both teams desperate to end 2014 with a win, especially as both had had disappointing autumn results. Because of this it was an extremely tight affair with no team really wanting to take unnecessary risks, except for a brief period where Wales attempted a ridiculous fifteen man maul. The battle at the breakdown was in hindsight where the game was won or lost, with two different primary schools of thought as to how win it. South Africa attempted to flood the ruck with three or four players to disrupt the ball for Rhys Webb; they obviously were looking to slow down the Welsh ball which had been a big threat all Autumn. Meanwhile Wales went back to their RWC 2011 formula, with captain Sam Warburton clamping down on as many breakdowns as he could. He had been quoted saying that he had spent three additional days at the training camp, before the other players arrived, receiving intensive strength and conditioning work. It has obviously paid off, able to successfully jackal the ball on multiple occasions and win penalties halting the Springbok advance, but more crucially giving kicking opportunities to Leigh Halfpenny.

There are still notable areas for Wales to work on, most worrying of which is the set piece. After a peerless display by the Welsh forwards against Australia the lineout has fallen apart. In the first half a worrying amount of lineouts were overturned by the brilliant Victor Matfield, not to mention a couple of over thrown lineouts. This once again cost Wales crucial field position and territory are important moments in the match. In fact the moment the team collectively decided to attempt the full team maul, I could have heard the holding of breath in fear of losing the lineout. This insecurity at the lineout begun manifesting itself at the scrum too, as Wales twice lost their own ball due to the hookers reluctance to actually "hook". Securing quick release ball from scrums seems a sensible idea but instead Wales (and many other teams) decided to try and win a penalty at risk of losing the ball, it is daft. These problems at set-piece must be resolved in time for the World Cup, England have an unbeatable lineout system in place, and posses a powerful scrum set up too which gives them solidity upon which to run a game.

Still minor issues aside Wales have finally beaten a Southern Hemisphere side, what they must do now is prove is wasn't a fluke. First up is the Six Nations in nine weeks time, a top three finish is possible and more importantly must be achieved to continue the confidence into RWC 2015. This Wales team has the ability to progress to the knockout stages of the World Cup, yet it will be a difficult road to get there.