Hougaard Breaks Welsh Hearts

By Lestyn
June 16 2004

WALES Under 21’s were left ruing what might have been in Glasgow tonight. A late drop goal from Boks’ outside half Derick Hougaard prevented the young Dragons from pulling off a major upset.

An early deluge looked to have put South Africa on path for a comfortable win, with prop Sangoni Mxoli crossing in the corner after barely two minutes of play, followed by a brace by wing Earl Rose to make it 19-0 after some sloppy Welsh play.

Yet forwards of the calibre of John Yapp and Gavin Quinnell offered Wales considerable hope with some bullocking runs, as Wales’ pack began to make inroads into bok territory. Scrum half Richard Rees took advantage after a typical Quinnell run, to touchdown between the posts.

Outside half Lee Thomas finished off a move initiating from a powerful surge right through the heart of South Africa’s defence.

The second half began in bizarre fashion after a Thomas penalty struck the woodwork, only for Matthew Nutthall to pounce on the loose ball and score. Thomas converted to put Wales ahead, with a 21-19 lead.

South Africa though were to go back in front, wing Earl Rose completed his hatrick, demonstrating his pace, speeding in.

Nutthall was to swing the game back in Wales’s favour, this time with a more clear cut score after Quinnell had yet again caused all sorts of havoc in the bok defence.

But then Hougaard who appeared in the full World cup last year dropped a goal to sneak in front with only a few minutes of added time to play.

Lee Thomas, a recent acquisition by the Blues from Pontypridd, pulled a long-range penalty wide deep into injury time wide, and with his miss went Welsh hope.

Wales captain Jonathan Edwards will take some comfort after his side significantly gained two bonus points, enhancing their semi final chances no end, with victory over England on Saturday at, Raeburn Place virtually ensuring them of qualification.

Edwards a mainstay in Pontypridd’s Welsh Premiership campaign believed that despite coming back, his sides lacklustre start was always going to come back and haunt them.

"You can't go 19-0 down in these big games and expect to win them. We did very well to come back but we paid for our early mistakes.

"We were up there competing and we almost got it.

"On the positive side we did well enough here to get the two bonus points and now if we beat England we've got a good chance to make the semis."

Victories captain Paul Delport was full of praise for Wales, claiming that outside half Hougaards experience was a telling factor in the end.

"Even when we were 19-0 up we didn't expect it to be an easy game, and it obviously wasn't.

"They came back very well, they were cohesive, more cohesive than we were, which is something that we have to look at before our next game against New Zealand. We certainly need to regroup before that match.

"In the end it was great to have someone of the calibre of Derrick Hougaard. He's got plenty of experience and it showed when he slotted over the drop goal."

Match Background
Date: 15th May 2004
Venue: Dumbreck, Glasgow
Attendance: 1,500

Wales U21 – (14) 26
Tries: Nutthall (2), Rees, Thomas
Cons: Thomas (3)

South Africa U21 (19) 27
Tries: Rose (3), Mxoli
Cons: Hougaard (2)
DG: Hougaard


Wales Team:
15 – Ricky Williams (Llandovery)
14 – Matthew Nutthall (Blues)
13 – Andrew Bishop (Bridgend)
12 – Lee Thomas (Blues)
11 – Chris Czekaj (Cardiff)
10 – Nick Macloed (Blues)
9 – Richard Rees (Swansea)
1 – John Yapp (Blues)
2 – Kieran Crawford (Dragons)
3 – Cai Griffiths (Ospreys)
4 – Alun Wyn Jones (Swansea)
5 – Ian Evans (Newport)
6 – Tom Brown (Hartbury College)
7 – Jonathan Edwards (Pontypridd)
8 – Gavin Quinnell (Scarlets).

Replacements: 16 – Ian George (Newport), 17 – William Kay (Newcastle), 18 – Jonathan Mills (Scarlets), 19 – Richard Dale (Newport), 20 – James Ireland (Cross Keys), 21 – Matthew Jones (Ospreys), 22 – Stephen Ireland (Cardiff).

Officials:

Referee: Brett Bowden (Australia)