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Rugby Union – Autumn Internationals – Wales v South Africa – Principality Stadium, Cardiff, Wales, Britain – November 29, 2025 South Africa’s Siya Kolisi during the national anthems before the match.
The Springboks have scored their biggest ever win in Cardiff when they thrashed Wales 73-0 at the Principality Stadium to finish their end-of-year tour unbeaten for a second year in a row.
Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu led the try-fest with a brace as the Boks scored eleven in total.
The shine was taken off the win when Eben Etzebeth was red-carded for a thumb to the eye late in the match.
A commanding performance from the #Springboks to finish the 2025 season in style 🤩 #ForeverGreenForeverGold #WALvRSA pic.twitter.com/QFqdFybGdd
— Springboks (@Springboks) November 29, 2025
It was a tale of two test teams, with the Boks having won all their tests, bar two this year, and the Welsh having lost all their tests, but for two wins this year.
The Springboks were first on the scoreboard, in the ninth minute, loosehead prop Gerhard Steenekamp breached the whitewash after some sustained pressure from the visitors.
Five minutes later, the Boks had a scrum in their opponents’ half, and Wales was in trouble. The ball was sent wide to Ethan Hooker, who beat three defenders to score the second try of the evening.
Wales was in trouble again when the Boks had a scrum on their host’s five metre line just after the half hour mark, the Bok scrum shunted the Welsh forwards and Jasper Wiese touched down at the base for the third try.
The Bok attacks were relentless and unabating. Three minutes after the 40-minute mark, still in the first half, Morne van den Berg took his chance and the Boks went into the break with a 28 points to nil lead.
The second half started much like the first half for Wales, with a Bok front rower, this time Wilco Louw, scoring his second try on tour, and Wales incurred a yellow card as well, just to compound their problems.
A quick tap and go saw Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu catch the Welsh unawares as he barged his way over the tryline, for his eighth try for the Boks this year.
Canan Moodie showed quick thinking and great skill for the Boks’ third try in the first ten minutes of the second half. Moodie’s pace and calmness saw him control the ball to score his ninth international try.
Having set up a couple of tries, it was now time for Andre Esterhuizen to get his try, and there was no stopping the hybrid player, playing in his regular position of centre for the day.
Feinberg-Mngomezulu was over for his second try of the game, and the Boks’ ninth on the night, just after the hour mark.
Try number ten for the Boks belonged to the workhorse Ruan Nortje, rewarded with his first-ever international try in his 18th appearance for his country.
Eben Etzebeth, the most capped Bok of all time, went over for the Boks’ eleventh try, as the pressure of the Welsh tryline never eased for the entire eighty minutes of the match.
The shine was taken off the win when Etzebeth was red carded for a thumb to the eye, the eye gouge plain for all to see on the replay.
73-nil was how it ended, as the Springboks finished their end-of-year tour with five wins from five matches played.
