Late Willemse penalty seals win for Boks over ill-disciplined Wales

PRETORIA : Fullback Damian Willemse kicked a pressure penalty after the hooter to secure South Africa a 32-29 victory over ill-disciplined Wales in a see-saw test at a raucous Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

Wing Louis Reece-Zammit crossed for two tries and Dewi Lakea got a third for the tourists, who took the world champions close but paid the price for their cynical play in their own 22 as they lost four players to yellow cards and conceded a penalty-try.

The Springboks might have won by a greater margin but for their own lacklustre play as their tactical kicking was abysmal and decision-making in key phases of play unusually poor.

Hookers Bongi Mbonambi and Malcolm Marx, and wing Cheslin Kolbe, crossed for tries for the home side, who were playing their first test in eight months.

The second of three tests in the series will be played in Bloemfontein next Saturday with Wales still in search of a first win in South Africa after 11 attempts.

"I'm gutted, there was a lot of momentum shifts in that game and we thought we nicked it but it wasn't to be," Wales flank Dan Lydiate told Sky Sports.

"We were disappointed after the Six Nations and we wanted to put in a good performance today to restore pride in the jersey, but we came here to win and we're gutted with the result.

"Discipline, we talked about it going into the camp, and we have to look at ourselves and rectify it for next week."

Wales had threatened to spoil the party as a sell-out crowd of 51,762 roared on the Boks, the first time in 1,051 days the home side had played in front of their own fans.

They will have felt let down with the opening 60 minutes of the game as Wales led 18-3 at halftime and were good value for that advantage against a sloppy home side.

But once the