Skipper Dan Biggar has defended Wales’ “abrasive” approach against the Springboks on Saturday after suffering a heartbreaking 32-29 defeat to the world champions in Pretoria.
Wales led 18-3 at half-time in the first of three Tests, but the 2019 World Cup winners mounted a stirring comeback to win through an added-time Damian Willemse penalty.
The Boks trailed from the third to 74th minutes before a penalty try, awarded for collapsing a driving maul, gave the hosts a 29-24 advantage.
Wales, with only 13 men on the field due to yellow cards, levelled through a Dewi Lake try before Willemse snatched victory in the 83rd minute.
The visitors, who had hoped to end a 10-match losing streak in the Republic since first touring SA in 1964, refused to be bullied by the Boks in a fiery clash at Loftus Versfeld, but their approach saw them end up on the wrong side of referee Nika Amashukeli.
Biggar was among those guilty of ill discipline as he was yellow-carded late in the first half and his deliberate knock-on allowed Willemse to win a thriller.
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Bok captain Siya Kolisi said post-match that Wales “got under our skin” in a first half which saw two altercations after the whistle had been blown, but Biggar told reporters: “I don’t know what the referee expected us to do, just come here, lie down and give South Africa everything their own way?
“From our point of view, we wanted to try and get in their faces, and not take a backwards step. That’s part of the game.
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“We were coming here and if you stand off South Africa out here, then you’ll get steamrolled pretty quickly. You need some aggression and competitiveness and get into it. I didn’t see any issue. They were just as niggly, competitive and as abrasive as we were. From our point of view that was perfect for us.
“The decisions will be analysed. But from our point of view, I don’t understand why people are bothered about it. It’s a Test match and we’re away from home against the world champions. I’m not quite sure what people expected from us, just roll the carpet out and applaud them off the pitch?
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“I don’t know what the issue is. It’s a Test match and we were more than happy to get stuck into them. That’s what Test matches are about.
“I really don’t understand. I see it as a non-event. That’s exactly what you want from a Test match, you want it confrontational, you want it aggressive.
“There was no dirty play or anything. We just went at it and got confrontational. It worked for us, certainly in the first half. I’ve got no issue whatsoever, what happens on the field… you shake hands afterwards and there is absolutely zero issue.”
He added: “I’m incredibly proud of the team, it was a huge effort from minute one. Just a couple of key moments in the second half cost us. We put ourselves under pressure.
“I’m really proud of the effort, but obviously it was a missed opportunity. We gave away some easy penalties, although we felt some were a little harsh.”
