Wales’ record home defeat by South Africa ‘hard to watch’ – Tandy

Steve Tandy, head coach, claims his team will “sting” as Wales’ record 73-0 home defeat was “raw” and will “sting” them.

Welsh rugby came to an end to a miserable year with another humiliation in Cardiff as Tandy’s under-strength team couldn’t compete with the Springboks’ 11-try power game at Principality Stadium.

The margin is obviously painful, but it’s always disappointing to lose, Tandy said.

“It’s always difficult to watch when you feel like losing any of the game.”

For the group, it’s really raw. Not because of a lack of effort or the desire to try.

Wales’ heaviest home defeat since March saw the Springboks defeat England 68-14 at Cardiff.

Only the 1998 defeat to Pretoria by a score of 96-13 represents a worse result for Welsh rugby.

Following their 43-0 Six Nations defeat by France, Wales were “nilled” for the second time in 2025 in a year of lows.

After leaving his position as Scotland defense coach, Tandy has finished his first campaign in charge.

Wales have lost to Argentina, New Zealand, and South Africa with a stunning one-point victory over Japan this autumn.

Tandy expressed excitement for the opportunity, which is probably not what it means at the moment.

“I was aware of the duties assigned to me, the location where the group is, and I enjoy being a part of it.”

“I don’t know where to go, but I do believe in this group,” he said.

There have been upturns and historical moments where you have these scoreboards, according to the historians. Not a lack of effort or desire, though. There is a lot of talent.

The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) will answer the question of why the post-match video debrief by Tandy and his staff will highlight the enormous gulf between Wales and the world champions.

Due to the fact that the match was outside World Rugby’s authorized Test window, Wales had to field a weakened side with only 13 of their England and France-based players.

The United Rugby Championship (URC) game took place on the same weekend as Ospreys, Scarlets, Dragons, and Cardiff.

Due to the fact that the match was outside World Rugby’s authorized Test window, Wales had to field a weakened side with only 13 of their England and France-based players.

Wales’ 21st international defeat in 23 games was brought on by Tandy’s fixture schedule, which he refrained from blatantly.

You can’t alter the fact that the fixture is the fixture, Tandy said.

This fixture was there when I first started the job, I knew. As a country that wants to improve, we need rugby games.

“It was a new opportunity to collaborate with a different group.”

You learn about people in these days, but we had to bring people in, and it wasn’t perfect.

South Africa’s bench, which had more Test caps than Wales’ entire matchday squad, was able to draw on a dazzling array of talent despite losing players to club duty.

Although the side still had Siya Kolisi, Wiese, Damian de Allende, Damian Willemse, and Feinberg-Mngomezulu, notable players like world player of the year Malcolm Marx, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Thomas du Toit, and Cheslin Kolbe were absent.

Before Eben Etzebeth, who was later sent off for gouging Wales flanker Alex Mann, and hooker Bongi Mbonambi, who are the other two Springboks players who are the double World Cup winners, is in reserve with them.

So head coach Rassie Erasmus decided to give his matchday squad 899 caps while Wales only had 306.

We anticipated a tough matchup with the world champions, Tandy said.

“We’ve got to play a team that’s much further along the line than we are,” he said.