“One of those brutal moments,” was how Jamie Roberts described it. And how he meant it. A good hour after Wales had been dealt the quarter-final killer blow, Roberts cradled in his hand a bottle of beer that failed utterly to drown his sorrow.
Wales’s was the cruellest of defeats and the post-match obligations hardly help. It is the nature of professional sport that athletes are required to do media duties, win or lose, even when that is their last desire in the world. Thus did Roberts take it upon himself to shoulder the burden at Twickenham and as he discussed the heartbreak his team had just endured, he was blinking back the tears.
In a sympathy-free zone, then, Wales have to acknowledge their strength and maintain it. We can lavish praise on the courage and relentlessness of Wales’s defence, but all the paeans are now worthless if Wales lose the architect of their most significant quality.
Shaun Edwards, the Wales defence coach, must now be one of the most valuable commodities in world rugby. It just so happens that he is out of contract after the World Cup. Clearly there are other unions that will be looking longingly in his direction — hello England — and Wales could do no better than to secure his longterm future.
“He is a magnificent coach and a wonderful guy and he’s got the best out of us defensively,” Roberts said. “I hope the coaching team stay together.”
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It just so happens that England have elected to spend the next few weeks conducting a review. They may well find that while they twiddle their thumbs, Edwards and other coaches of his calibre suddenly become contracted out of their reach.
This quarter-final was a collision of like-for-like philosophies so there was no shortage of irony in the fact that South Africa won in the split-second that they forsook philosophy to play.
It took 74 minutes before they happened on their moment of inspiration, but the offload by Duane Vermeulen, the Springbok No 8, when he peeled off the scrum and took the contact from Lloyd Williams and Alex Cuthbert, who had gambled in stepping off his wing, was outstanding. Once Fourie du Preez had locked on to the pass, Wales were buried. If Wales had been able to finish their chances in such a way, they might still be in this competition.
Scorers: South Africa: Try: Du Preez (76min). Penalty goals: Pollard 5 (9, 13, 17, 21, 62). Dropped goal: Pollard (52). Wales: Try: G Davies (18). Penalty goals: Biggar 3 (15, 46, 64). Conversion: Biggar. Dropped goal: Biggar (40).
Scoring sequence (South Africa first): 3-0, 6-0, 6-3, 9-3, 9-10, 12-10, 12-13 (half-time), 12-16, 15-16, 18-16, 18-19, 23-19.
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South Africa: W Le Roux; JP Pietersen, J Kriel (rep: J Serfontein, 68), D de Allende, B Habana; H Pollard (rep: P Lambie, 76), F du Preez; T Mtawarira (rep: T Nyakane, 57), B du Plessis (rep: A Strauss 13-23, 56), F Malherbe (rep: J du Plessis, 62), E Etzebeth, L de Jager, F Louw (rep: W Alberts, 68), S Burger, D Vermeulen.
Wales: G Anscombe; A Cuthbert, T Morgan (rep: J Hook, 68), J Roberts, G North; D Biggar (rep: R Priestland, 74), G Davies (rep: L Williams, 72); G Jenkins (rep: P James, 56), S Baldwin (rep: K Owens, 57), S Lee (rep; T Francis, 56), L Charteris (rep: B Davies, 64), AW Jones, D Lydiate (rep: J Tipuric, 68), S Warburton, T Faletau.
Referee: W Barnes (England). Attendance: 79,572