Wales’ final warm-up match ahead of the men’s Rugby World Cup ended in a record 52-16 defeat against reigning champions South Africa at Principality Stadium.
Warren Gatland’s team - that included eight Dragons in his match day squad - was up against hugely experienced and talented opponents and had entered the fixture as rank outsiders with bookmakers.
They weren’t helped by a first half penalty try and errors, with the Springboks grabbing two interception scores and getting a third after cashing in on another handling error.
South Africa led 24-9 at the interval and were four tries to the good. The Springboks ended up with eight tries in total to rack up a record number of points against Wales on Welsh soil.
South Africa will fancy their chances of becoming only the second nation to retain the World Cup, when it kicks off in France next month while the match will have given Warren Gatland much to ponder ahead of announcing his permitted squad of 33 for the World Cup on Monday (August 21).
