Having a Wale(s) of a time!

My first experience of the Millennium Stadium was everything it lived up to be! The Welsh are great fans of Rugby and know how to have and show you a great time. The Lost Prophets were the pre-match entertainment followed by base jumpers delivering the match ball from the Millennium Stadium roof!

My favourite part of any match, besides the actual play, is the singing of the anthems! Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika was sung, as always, with pride and vigour by the many South Africans that had made the trip from London to Cardiff for the match. I was always told that the Welsh can sing and evidence of this has always been witnessed on TV coverage. The singing of the Welsh national anthem in the Millennium Stadium blew me away! While munching away on droewors at the Millennium Stadium watching Wales vs South Africa was a great way to spend a Saturday!

Before kickoff there were a few facts that everyone was speaking about, including the Welsh supporters. The Welsh had one or two injuries but otherwise selected their best available 15. The Springboks, although World Champions, were resting key players and had less than a week to gel a team together and had many last minute changes to the starting line up because of various reasons.

The Boks started the first half like a team introduced to each other just before kickoff. With a number of players in the starting lineup plying their trade overseas and quite a few newcomers, it was no wonder. The Welsh on the other hand came out with full guns blazing and took the game to the Boks.

The second half proved why the senior Bok players like John Smit and Victor Matfield are so important to the Springboks. They've been there time and time again and know the situation. The Boks came out in the second half like a new team and by the end of it where in control of the match. When Wales went 16-3 up a welsh lady next to me turned and said, "You know you're still going to win." She was right.

The newcomers all did well in their first outing. I am not a Stormers fan, but I was particularly impressed with Juan de Jongh, Francois Louw and Gio Aplon. De Jongh is a good centre with great foot work, good handling skills and good speed. He also has solid defence and is definitely one for the future. If he continues to work alongside Jean de Villiers and Jaque Fourie he will become a world class player! For the Wynand Oliver supporters, I'm afraid to say that he is a great Super Rugby player but has never impressed me at International level.

Francois Louw showed that he is capable of holding his own on the international stage. It wasn't a standout performance, but it was more than sufficient to suggest that he can develop into a great flanker! South African rugby is very blessed to have such depth at loose forward at the moment.

Gio Aplon provided some good touches. There are many people who think that the modern wing has to big, strong and fast - I disagree that they have to be big. I was once told that there is "no counter for speed, if someone is faster than you then he's faster than you."

Aplon is not the fastest player around yet, but he can develop into a Breyton Paulse as he has good hands and quick feet. If you can't catch him, you can't tackle him! His sevens experience showed and helped him in his first outing for the Springboks.

All in all it was a good performance from the Boks, with one or two small errors. Against better opposition these errors would have cost us, but against better opposition we will be more clinical.

Let's see what the French have in store.