On Saturday, the Springboks were beaten 13-12 at the death in Bloemfontein by a spirited Welsh team to record an historic first win over the world champions in South Africa.

Questions were raised earlier in the week when 14 changes were made to the team that beat the Welsh in Pretoria. The Springboks coach, Jacques Nienaber, defended his selection by stating that it was important for them to get answers regarding the depth at their disposal.

The Springbok coach, Jacques Nienaber, said they let more than themselves down.

“You never want to lose,” said Nienaber.

“We are playing for something much bigger than just to win Tests.  We play for South Africa and for our fans. Myself and the whole team feels that we let this phenomenal crowd down in Bloemfontein with not getting a victory.

“Going into this last game it's going to be a final.  We tried to almost paint the reality - Wales didn’t come here to win a Test, they came here to win a series.”

Nienaber added that as their build-up towards their Rugby World Cup title defence in France next year, it was important to test their depth.

“The conservative route would have been to try and wrap up the series now. If you look at the Test this weekend, you can never be sure you can beat Wales.

“We could have gone the conservative route but let's say we didn't win the Test, then we would probably have never given the other guys an opportunity. Now we've got answers on 42 players, and that was always the plan.”

The Springbok and Wales will clash on Saturday at the Cape Town Stadium in the third and decisive Test. Kick-off is at 17:05.

Morgan Piek/OFM Sport