By Country / Wales

South Africa: 37
Tries: J De Villiers 2, R Januarie, B Du Plessis
Cons: B James 4
Pens: B James 3

Wales: 21
Tries: G Cooper, S Williams
Con: S Jones
Pens: S Jones 3

Not this time, but Wales went a long way to eroding their nightmare week leading up to the second test defeat to South Africa by pushing an off-colour world champions all the way and had it not been for Stephen Jones' wayward boot, Warren Gatland could've masterminded another minor miracle in Pretoria.

A torried seven days started with a 43-17 hammering in Bloemfontein, after which the Welsh players were forced to board the same flight with their rivals - whoever sanctioned this probably isn't going to be in a job for much longer - but Ryan Jones' boys earned a hell of a lot of respect after walking with imposing physicality rather than just talking about how they were going to smash their opposition backwards.

Butch James was at the fulcrum, giving the Springboks plenty of go-forward where the forwards struggled to set a platform. Jean de Villiers scored the first, last and had a hand in Ricky Januarie's try in a fine all-round display, but Bismarck du Plessis' last minute score was slightly unfair on the 'Red Dragons.'

Wales' moment of magic for the umpteenth time came from the wizardry skills of Shane Williams, who won over many new fans in the Rainbow Nation with arguably his best ever touchdown. Bamboozling five defenders who didn't know whether they were turned left or right, the twinkle-toed wing dived over for a dazzling score that overshadowed another frustrating afternoon for Bryan Habana.

As if Wales weren't chewed up enough after their Bloemfontein bashing - line-out linchpin Victor Matfield has been recalled to the South Africa starting lineup at the expense of Andries Bekker.

Battered and bruised like a group of jocks who took sport in giving a poor old emo minding his own business down a back bar alley, the Welsh appear to be walking into a similar predicament in Pretoria.

Ricky Januarie has also been given a reprieve after 'one drink too many' at the team dinner cost him a starting berth in the first Test, while Tendai 'The Beast Mtawarira gets a debut in the front-row.

If the Springboks picked a much-changed XV last weekend, Peter de Villiers is smelling blood after sending for stronger reinforcements with big guns Francois Steyn and Ryan Kankowsi bolstering the bench.

'Strength' would be the wrong word to describe Warren Gatland's statue, but the great kiwi has already shown he is not shy of the odd surprise and the decision to switch James Hook to full-back is one neither Cilla Black nor Mystic Meg Meg could've foreseen.

Hook has never played at 15 and consdering Wales' record at the intimidating Loftus Versfeld, even Frodo Baggins would struggle braving this one out.

Jamie Roberts shifts to inside centre to counteract the Springboks dominance in that department just seven days ago.

Gareth Delve gets a chance to force his claims for the Wales number eight shirt with Ryan Jones jumping over to the blindside..

There are also changes in the front-row with Richard Hibbard and Rhys Thomas replacing Matthew Rees and Adam Jones.

South Africa: 15 Conrad Jantjes, 14 Tonderai Chavanga, 13 Adrian Jacobs, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Butch James, 9 Ricky Januarie, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Luke Watson, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 BJ Botha, 2 John Smit (c), 1 Tendai Mtawarira.

Replacements: 16 Bismarck du Plessis, 17 Gurthrö Steenkamp, 18 Andries Bekker, 19 Ryan Kankowski, 20 Bolla Conradie, 21 Francois Steyn, 22 Percy Montgomery.

Wales: 15 James Hook, 14 Mark Jones, 13 Tom Shanklin, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Shane Williams, 10 Stephen Jones, 9 Gareth Cooper, 8 Gareth Delve, 7 Jonathan Thomas, 6 Ryan Jones (c), 5 Alun Wyn Jones, 4 Ian Gough, 3 Rhys Thomas, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Gethin Jenkins.

Replacements: 16 T Rhys Thomas, 17 Duncan Jones, 18 Ian Evans, 19 Dafydd Jones, 20 Warren Fury, 21 Andrew Bishop, 22 Tom James.

Despite all the southern hemisphere stars seeking richer pastures in the north, the battle billed as the 'clash of the champions' was one-sided and showed the embarrasing failure of Europe's elite to win on their travels.

Only five members of South Africa's World Cup winning side were present to inflict the first defeat for Warren Gatland's Wales, but the battering the Welsh took at the breakdown will be giving Shaun Edwards nightmares for the rest of the week.

Butch James' impeccable accuracy with the boot shows there is life after Percy as the Springboks went in 22-10 up at the break after Conrad Jantjes debut score.

Jamie Roberts matched his opposite number's feat with a well-taken try of his own but four second-half scores from Pierre Spies, Jean de Villiers, the impressive veteran Adrian Jacobs and Percy Montgomery nullified any such pleasure taken from Six Nations star marksman Shane Williams skipping past Bryan Habana for a consolation try.

Wales captain Ryan Jones believes that a severely depleted Wales are still capable of beating South Africa when the two sides meet in June.

The Grand Slam winners will be missing Gavin Henson, Mike Phillips, Lee Byrne, Martyn Williams, Dwayne Peel and Huw Bennett for the two Tests, the first in Bloemfontein on June 7th. And despite losing all six previous games in South Africa, skipper Jones is still up for a scrap.

"I'm hugely excited by it, it's probably the greatest place to go and play Test rugby. They're fanatical, it's a huge challenge but I'm all for the big tests, the big occasions and the big pressure.

“We hadn't beaten England at Twickenham for God knows how long before this year and I've always said that what's happened in the past has no bearing on what happens next Saturday," Jones told the Beeb.

South Africa have injury concerns of their own, with Fourie du Preez and Heini Adams both out. Their 30-man squad for the Tests will be announced on Wednesday.