Wales v Springboks: Five takeaways as Eben Etzebeth’s brainless act a ‘sour note’ to end a memorable year
Springboks lock Eben Etzebeth v Wales with an inset Andre Esterhuizen.
Following the Springboks’ 73-0 thrashing of Wales, here are our five takeaways from the clash at the Principality Stadium.
Top Line
South Africa made light work of the bookies’ -35 handicap, racking up 11 tries to hand Wales their biggest-ever defeat at their iconic home ground.
Gerhard Steenekamp hammered open the floodgates in the eighth minute as the Boks‘ pack flexed its power. He dominated a scrum soon after, which created the space down the short side that the backs made the most of as Ethan Hooker crossed for a second try in as many weeks.
Jasper Wiese palmed the ball down over the line after another demolition of the Welsh scrum, and Morne van den Berg made it four as South Africa opened up a 28-0 lead at halftime.
The second half followed a similar theme as Wilco Louw followed his fellow prop over the try scoring in the 42nd minute before Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu ran straight through the Welsh defence from a quick-tap to further bloat the scoreline shortly after Aaron Wainwright was sent to the sin bin.
Canan Moodie pounced on a loose pass and was the quickest to the ball to bring the Springbok even closer to a half-century. Andre Esterhuizen aptly brought up the half ton as he was duly rewarded for a fantastic performance with the Man of the Match award. By that stage, South Africa was scoring a point a minute, and Feinberg-Mngomezulu kept that pace as he doubled his tally.
Ruan Nortje grabbed the 10th try before Eben Etzebeth dotted down for the 11th, but the Bok second-rower’s brain fade soured the encounter as he was red carded for an eye gouge with a few minutes left on the clock.
Superb Springboks inflict another humiliation on woeful Wales in 11-try demolition in Cardiff
Boks’ power game overwhelms Wales
Erasmus’ charges were always favourites to win the power game, and that was very much the case as the Springboks regularly got purchase from the scrum and bossed the gainline, on both sides of the ball.
Wales were always up against it with the props that demolished Ireland’s British and Irish Lions scrum last week at the end of the first half and into the second, were promoted to the starting XV, and they were only aided by the Boks heavies making errors. They managed to weather the storm on occasion in the first half by using the Wallabies’ old trick of not taking the hit, and Johan Grobbelaar forgetting to hook once. But they were only going to get lucky with that so many times.
There was a moment of pure bewilderment as the camera panned to Erasmus after Wales stalled a Bok maul, but the Welsh do deserve some credit in that department, as it was one of the few areas where they really managed to cause some issues – not very much though.
It wasn’t just in the pack where the Springboks won the power game, though, as the centre combination of Esterhuizen and Damian de Allende caused all kinds of havoc working as additional flankers but also as battering rams wider from the rucks.
Wiese and Siya Kolisi also bossed the gain-line with ball in hand, and that pressure didn’t release when Ben-Jason Dixon and Kwagga Smith were deployed with the Nuke Squad.
Stacking positives
Today’s encounter produced a picture-perfect template of one of the key attributes that separates great teams like the Springboks and strugglers like Wales when it comes to tier one nations – the ability to stack positives.
The second try for the Boks is a clear example; the platform was set with a massive scrum that effectively removed Wales’ blindside flanker and number eight from the defensive line, freeing up the space for Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Willemse. The two Bok backs both managed to draw in two defenders each, with the latter sending Hooker tearing into space, and the Welsh scramble defence simply failed to do anything about it.
Later in the half, Wales are awarded a penalty at the scrum but wasted it at the ensuing lineout. To make matters worse, Steve Tandy’s charges stacked negatives as they crumbled under pressure. They conceded a penalty at the breakdown early in the second half, and Feinberg-Mngomezulu took the tap quickly. A backtracking Dewi Lake raised his arm, and the Bok fly-half smartly ran in his direction. The hooker clearly made an effort to get back and should have eventually made an attempted tackle. Instead, he basically ushered him over the line.
Just after the hour-mark, the scrum concedes a penalty, there is no contest of the Springboks’ lineout -that was thrown skew – and Esterhuizen is given a free run deep into the Welsh 22. The backtracking defence just crumbled from there, and Feinberg-Mngomezulu doubled his tally.
Ultimately, the Springboks produced a clinic on how Test rugby should be played, and the youthful and confidence-lacking Welsh outfit simply couldn’t cope. While the names of the try-scorers changed throughout the match, the tale of the tape was the same thing over and over again. The back-to-back world champions stacked the positives, and every time the men in red got one, it was quickly followed by a negative.
Tall Boks boss the airwaves
New Zealand has the Tall Blacks – the nation’s basketball team – and frankly, today’s Springboks squad wouldn’t have been completely out of their depth on the court.
And Boks certainly did not waste the unusually tall backline and pack. Hooker regularly won the battle in the air, particularly in the early knockings, with some brilliantly placed kicks by Van den Berg. His fellow wing Moodie had a hiccup or two, but on the whole, he won his aerial duels, too.
If the duo weren’t winning the ball, they were forcing errors from the Welsh outside backs, and it was all compounded when Etzebeth was thrown into the mix.
The likes of Nortje and Kolisi also deserve massive credit for their work on the scraps, latching onto loose balls when Wales made those errors or applying the pressure on the players in red scooping up the ball.
It was a relentless scrap from minute one to 80.
Eben Etzebeth’s brainless act
Regardless of what Alex Mann may and may not have done, there is no excuse for what Etzebeth did. He absolutely deserved a red card.
Lood de Jager’s red card earlier this month was unfortunate, Franco Mostert’s was wrong, but there were no ifs, buts or maybes with Etzebeth’s.
Completely unnecessary.
Brain-less from Eben Etzebeth. A long ban loading.#WALvRSA pic.twitter.com/VWFwTt9tAD
— Jared Wright (@jaredwright17) November 29, 2025
It’s unacceptable for a player with one Test cap, never mind 141.
A long ban is now awaiting the experienced second-rower, who will miss key fixtures for the Sharks over the December period.
It was a marvellous, memorable 78-minute performance from the Springboks to hand Wales their biggest-ever home defeat as Erasmus’ men marched to back-to-back unbeaten November tours – a feat they had not managed since 2013 before last year. But Etzebeth’s actions put a real blight on the game.
A sour note to end one of the most memorable years of Springboks rugby.
READ MORE: Bob Skinstad ‘worried’ Springboks have peaked too soon as Ireland great claims ‘the gap isn’t big’
