After an agonising 32-29 loss against South Africa in Pretoria, Dan Biggar, Wales’ captain was left regretting his team’s misfortune.
Wales led 18-3 at the half-time break, but their indiscretion cost them four yellow tickets. Wayne Pivac’s team was at one point reduced to 12 men by Wayne Pivac.
Biggar was sin-binned and missed a late conversion, giving away the match-winning penalty by Damian Willemse.
Biggar said, “It wasn’t a missed opportunity.”
The Wales captain had 14 points to keep his side in the game, but missed a late conversion after Dewilake’s try.
The next punishment was for a deliberate knock on that resulted in him being kicked.
The Wales fly-half said, “It’s one those, isn’t it?” I’ve seen enough good moments in the game and this was a disappointing moment that I didn’t nail down.
“I thought that the penalty at the final was a bit harsh. I have let the ball hit my hand, not slapping it down. It’s just the way it is.
“It was an absolute privilege to be able to play there today. It was the most beautiful place I have ever played on.”
Nika Amashukeli, a Georgian referee, gave yellow cards to Biggar, Alun Wyn James, Louis ReesZammit, and Rhys Carre.
Biggar expressed frustration towards the officials but did not blame them for the loss.
Biggar added, “We need to first look at ourselves.”
“We gave some easy ins and probably made some easy decisions with some penalty.
“It can be difficult to say too many things when you’re feeling very emotional. We’ll be able to make a better judgement if you look at it again.
“Some of the referees were a bit harsh. Conversely, when you give South Africa a little bit in and momentum, it can be difficult to stop and likely quite easy to referee.
“We are sorry and will have to go away and take a look at it in a few days.”
Biggar believes Wales has silenced doubters by running the world champions at such close proximity to altitude.
Biggar said, “As an organization we’re extremely proud of the effort that we’ve put into it.”
“I don’t want to be brave loser at a press conference. But, it’s hard to imagine anyone predicting that the game would end up like this at midday today.
“We felt confident that if we stayed focused, we would be successful in the game.”
Biggar dismissed the claim that South Africa will become stronger while Wales would weaken in the final matches in the series at Bloemfontein, Cape Town.
Biggar added, “Everybody’s raving about how much the Springboks will do next week. However, for us as well a lot of our boys hadn’t played for quite some time.”
“We can put on a show against the world champions in the first Test at altitude. There is no reason why next week we shouldn’t do better.”
“The Springboks may get better for next weeks, but I would like to believe we’ll also be better.” We’ve actually gained some confidence.”
Biggar stated that there was no issue between the sides, but it didn’t have any significance.
“I don’t know what the referee expected of us to do. Come here and lay down, and let South Africa have it their way.” He added.
“I don’t know what the problem is. It’s a Test match. We wanted to be there and not backward.
“That’s part and parcel of the game right now. If you’re standing in South Africa, you will get steamrolled very quickly.
“You must show energy, fight, and aggression to be competitive.
“They were just as competitive and niggly as us, but that was exactly what we needed and it was the right thing for us. This is exactly what you want in a Test match. You want it to be aggressive and abrasive. I didn’t find any problem.
“There was no dirty play. There is no problem if you shake hands.