Wales’s inaugural Test match against South Africa took place at St Helen’s on Saturday December 1st, 1906. Wales were unable to answer the three tries and one conversion scored against them, enduring an 11-0 defeat on their first outing against the Springboks. Polla Roos captained a sensational Springbok team that brought power and determination to the pitch and set the tone of future matches between the two nations. An ageing Welsh team at the end of the golden era of early Welsh rugby that had defeated the all-conquering All Blacks only twelve months earlier were rolled over by South African might.

The next four occasions in which the two teams met proved to be much closer matches with low scoring results dominating the fixtures. South Africa took the spoils on each occasion; 3-0 in 1912, 8-3 in 1931, 6-3 twenty years later in 1951 and 3-0 again in 1960 to record a five match winning run without answer against Wales.

The 1912 match saw Billy Millar’s Springboks introduce a dogged defence to their already powerful game two years prior to the First World War. A much fancied Wales side couldn’t find an answer to the sole South African penalty scored by Dougie Morkel as the Springboks ground out the 3-0 win in Cardiff. By adding Wales to their scalps of Scotland and Ireland and eventually England, Millar’s team became the first South African side to defeat all of the home nations.

The 1931 clash between Wales and South Africa saw Benny Osler’s dour and uncompromising team punish Wales with a ruthless efficiency. A style of play based around Osler’s boot and the dive passing of scrum-half Danie Craven saw the South Africans produce a two tries to one victory at St Helen’s as Wales finally managed to penetrate the Springbok try-line. Coupled with a clean sweep of six Welsh domestic sides the 1931 Springboks became the first South African touring team to win all of their matches in Wales.

1951 was in effect an all-star clash as a Wales team that had delivered a 1950 triple crown took on a South Africa team that had delivered a four Tests to nil winning streak over the All Blacks in New Zealand in 1949. In front of a capacity home crowd the backline of Malcolm Thomas, Bleddyn Williams, Lewis Jones, Ken Jones and Gerwyn Williams got to grips with the South African defence in the dying minutes by reverting to Wales’s passing expansive game resulting in a try for Bleddyn Williams. For the previous seventy minutes Wales had adopted a the tactic of allowing Cliff Morgan to play a kicking game. Ultimately it proved costly and only played into South African hands. Although it had kept the visitors at bay it had also resulted in a first half try from Chum Ochse and had not allowed Wales the scope to attack as they would have liked to, and eventually did in the dying minutes. The score by Ochse was followed by a second half drop goal from Hannes Brewis to stretch the Springbok lead as South Africa turned dogged defence into attack and produced a score against the run of play which had seen Wales produce a period of sustained expansive pressure on their opponents. Wales finished 3-6 adrift in front of 53,000 in Cardiff.

1960 almost became the match that never was as adverse weather conditions, a howling gale and torrential rain turned the Arms Park into a quagmire which ended up flooded by the burst banks of the River Taff in the hours after the final whistle. Avril Malan’s ‘unsmiling giants’ won the toss and kicked to the East Terrace in the first half with the wind at their backs and scored after twenty-one minutes as an infringement in the scrum on the Welsh line gave Keith Oxlee the opportunity to kick a penalty out of the slurry of mud. Wales were hustled by a streetwise South African unit that repeatedly turned defence into attack, preferring to concede possession in touch on their own try line than suffer the consequences of a defensive line-out given the downpour. Wales lock Danny Harris thought that he’d scored near the beginning of the second half but a drop-out twenty-two was called instead and thus it remained for the remainder of the match as South Africa’s brand of dogged defence was employed to the max once more stifling Welsh forays into their territory.

In 1964 at the ABSA Stadium in Durban, South Africa scored a then record number of points against the Welsh in the history of the two nations’ international battles as Wales succumbed to the climate as well as the intensity of a Springbok home match. The 24-3 scoreline was courtesy of three tries from Nelie Smith, Hannes Marais and Doug Hopwood, two penalties and all three conversions from Keith Oxlee and a drop goal from the boot of Lionel Wilson. Wales, featuring John Dawes, Clive Rowlands and Norman Gale were only able to secure one penalty from Keith Bradshaw in reply but did manage to hold South Africa at 3-3 for the first hour of the match.

Six years later in 1970, Wales hosted the Springboks at the National Ground, Cardiff Arms Park in what will always be remembered as one of the classic matches of the 1970s and secured the only draw, 6-6, against their South African opponents in the history of the meetings of the nations. Scrum half Gareth Edwards secured all of Wales’s points in the match with a penalty and match-saving try at the death. Due to the Apartheid regime in South Africa it was another twenty-four years before Wales played host to the rainbow nation with fans having to wait until 1994 to see the two countries in action again.

A year out from hosting the 1995 Rugby World Cup South Africa secured a three try to nil victory over their hosts with efforts from Andre Joubert, Chester Williams and Rudolf Straeuli whilst Neil Jenkins kicked all of Wales’s points in the 12-20 loss. In a pattern of play unfamiliar in previous Wales v South Africa matches, Wakes took their opponents on in the physical game and it paid dividends as repeated South African indiscipline handed repeated penalty opportunities for Jenkins to kick. Welsh handling ultimately proved costly, and knock-ons at key moments in attacking moves robbed Wales of the tries that might have made a huge impact on the result. Cunning and guile in short bursts from the South African backs ensured they punished Wales when it counted, ultimately proving the difference in the final outcome.

Wales travelled to Ellis Park in 1995 and suffered their heaviest defeat thus far against the Springboks in a 40-11 mauling. Five tries plus fifteen points from the metronomic boot of Joel Stransky (who punished the All Blacks in the 1995 Rugby World Cup Final) punished an undisciplined Welsh side, whose hooker Garin Jenkins saw red and left the field. South Africa romped their way through their first match as Rugby World Cup Champions and showed why they were a team worthy of the tag.

A year later at the Arms Park Wales faired better as they put twenty points past the ‘Boks, but lost the game due to the 5-1 try deficit. Van der Westhuizen grabbed a hat trick and Andrew Joubert scored a try against Wales once more at the Arms Park. Yet this 20-37 loss was nothing in comparison to what would follow in the next Test match between the countries.

South African dominance dazzled the Loftus Versfeld Stadium in June 1998 as the home side eased a 96-13 victory over their shell-shocked visitors. Fifteen tries in total, a hat-trick for Pieter Rossouw and a brace each for Percy Montgomery, future Osprey Stefan Terblanche and Andre Venter, punished a lacklustre Welsh side who could only respond with a baker’s dozen from Arwel Thomas. Just five months later at Wembley Stadium, whilst a new national ground was built in the homeland, Wales regained their form as they met the Springboks for the twelfth time. A personal haul of fifteen points for Neil Jenkins and a try from Gareth Thomas gave Wales a score but two tries from South Africa and the boot of Franco Smith gave the visitors a 28-20 win. Nonetheless Welsh pride had been restored and only last minute persistence from South Africa had undone a brilliant home performance.

The thirteenth meeting proved unlucky indeed for South Africa as they incurred their only defeat to date at the hands of Wales. On June 26th 1999 at the newly-built Millennium Stadium ahead of the 1999 Rugby World Cup as Wales celebrated 'opening-night' in front of the home crowd faithful who had waited just over two years for the return of a home international match to Cardiff. Two tries apiece, from Gareth Thomas, Mark Taylor, Percy Montgomery and Werner Swanepoel, kept the game open but it was ultimately the boot of Neil Jenkins that gifted Wales their precious win as he slotted five penalties and two conversions through the uprights in comparison to the Springboks’ three penalties. The Springboks, though, were soon back to their winning ways seventeen months later as they put a ten point victory over Wales at their home ground in November 2000.

The next three fixtures between the two countries were played out in South Africa. On a tour of to the country in 2002, which saw the introduction of a number of new players including a debut for Michael Owen, Wales lost out 34-19 in Bloemfontein and lost, albeit by a narrower margin, a week later in Cape Town by 19-8.

Five years to the day that Wales secured their only victory over the Springboks the teams met again on June 26th. The 2004 result at Loftus Versfeld differed considerably to the one enacted at the Millennium Stadium as South Africa ran out 53-18 victors in front of Nelson Mandela; a seven try showing, including a brace from Brent Russell, overshadowed the two scores by Shane Williams (who had scored a hat-trick away to Argentina the week before) and Dwayne Peel, and eight points from Gavin Henson.

The two most recent times that Wales have hosted South Africa have been Autumn International matches at the Millennium Stadium in 2004 and 2005. The 2004 Lloyds TSB Autumn Series match between the two nations provided a thriller of a tie in which Wales trailed 23-6 at half-time but clawed back to within an inch of their visitors, losing out by just two points 36-38 as Stephen Jones whacked over an overtime conversion.

The 2005 Invesco Perpetual Autumn Series match proved to be a comfortable win for the South Africans as the 2005 Grand Slam Champions took a shot at each of the SANZAR teams. A Ceri Sweeney try and eleven points from Stephen Jones, who won his fiftieth cap in the Test match, were Wales’s efforts but a brace from wing wizard Bryan Habana and a try each for Conrad Jantjes and Danie Rossouw eased the Springboks to a 16-33 victory.

Whilst the international Test arena has not been kind to Wales in the history of ties against South Africa accross the broader range of the rugby spectrum, recent times have witnessed some more favourable results and contests. In 2006, Wales Sevens defeated South Africa Sevens in the Plate Final of the Commonwealth Games in classic comeback fashion, dead and buried at half time and even further down at the start of the second half Wales Sevens clawed their way back to seal victory at the death and ensure silverware as replacement Tal Selley sparked their revival. In the Women's game, 2004 saw Wales Women become the first touring Test side from Wales to leave South Africa with a series victory having defeated the Springbok Women 2-0 sealing the second match with an injury time penalty.

The Millennium Stadium awaits the Rugby World Cup Champions in November 2007 with a tie to savour; history proves that Wales v South Africa is always a tie of spirit, power and raw doggedness. The inaugural Prince William Cup match will ensure that he next one hundred years begins as spectacularly as the last.