The Boks scraped home for a win against the reigning Six Nations champions in what can best be described as “a match of two halves” on Saturday 8 November 2008 at Millenium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales.

The Boks’ effort can best be described as unconvincing and Wales looked very good at times against the reigning world champions with numerous line breaks but unable to finish them off due to the Springbok’s dogged second line of defense.

Ruan Pienaar stepped up to the plate in the problematic pivotal position at flyhalf, replacing Butch James who was not considered for the end of year tour due to his overlapping commitments to European club rugby.

South Africa: 15 Conrad Jantjes, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Adrian Jacobs, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Ruan Pienaar, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Schalk Burger, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 John Smit (c), 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 Brian Mujati, 17 Gurthro Steenkamp, 18 Andries Bekker, 19 Ryan Kankowski, 20 Ricky Januarie, 21 Frans Steyn, 22 Jaque Fourie.

link : Springboks limp past dominant Welsh