Wales beats Springboks 13-12 for history, levels series 1-1

BLOEMFONTEIN, South Africa (AP) — Replacement flyhalf Gareth Anscombe kicked a sideline conversion with less than two minutes left to give Wales a 13-12 victory and its first over the Springboks on South African soil on Saturday.

Anscombe's nerveless kick, following wing Josh Adams' late try, shocked the world champions in Bloemfontein, but also made them pay for a selection gamble when they changed 14 of their 15 starters from the first test and gave six players debuts with a series still in the balance.

Wales pounced on the opportunity to level the series 1-1, with a decider next Saturday in Cape Town.

Wales showed outstanding resilience after losing Alun Wyn Jones to a harsh yellow card and captain Dan Biggar to injury, and then going 12-3 down with 20 minutes to play at Free State Stadium.

Stand-in captain Handré Pollard kicked all of South Africa's points, but the Boks ran out of steam and didn't score in the last 20.

Anscombe, replacing Biggar, closed it to 12-6 before putting a pinpoint late penalty into touch near the Springboks' tryline to set up the game-winning play.

With an advantage for South Africa collapsing a lineout maul, the Welsh forwards worked their way to center field before Anscombe released Adams on a big overlap on the left and he beat the cover defense for his 77th-minute try, the only one of the game. Adams was also on as a replacement early when Alex Cuthbert went off hurt.

Anscombe faced a tough conversion but it sailed through the posts to make history for the Welsh, who have been trying to win a test in South Africa for 58 years.

They have a chance at a series win and South Africa faces a backs-against-the-wall final test, where another loss would put a severe dent in coach Jacques Nienaber's plans a year out from a Rugby World Cup defense.

Before the series, most South African analysts were arguing over how many points the Springboks would win by in each test.

But Wales pushed the first-choice Springboks to the brink in the opening game at Loftus Versfeld and was unlucky to lose that. South Africa escaped with a 32-29 win with a penalty after the final hooter.

Wales kept faith with most of its team for Bloemfontein, bringing in Cuthbert for Adams in its only change. Nienaber changed everyone except lock Eben Etzebeth, a decision viewed as disrespectable to Wales by some.

A Wales victory still seemed unlikely when, with the game 3-3 at halftime, South Africa ground itself into a nine-point advantage through Pollard's boot midway through the second half.

But Wales was composed in defense as well as attack in the crucial last moments, and a late South African surge after the fulltime hooter came to nothing as prop Vincent Koch knocked on and the Welsh celebrated for the first time in South Africa.

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