The 1995 Wales rugby union tour was a series of matches played in August and September 1995 in South Africa by the Wales national team. The tour consisted of two matches; a warm-up game against the South-East Transvaal provincial side, and a test match against the

South African national team South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz' ...

. The tour was held in part to thank South Africa for supporting Wales' bid to host the

1999 Rugby World Cup The 1999 Rugby World Cup was the fourth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial international rugby union championship. It was principally hosted by Wales, and was won by Australia. This was the first Rugby World Cup to be held in the sport's professi ...

. Wales named a squad of 24 players for the tour, including five uncapped players. Ten of the squad had not been included in the Wales team that participated in the

1995 Rugby World Cup The 1995 Rugby World Cup was the third Rugby World Cup. It was hosted and won by South Africa, and was the first Rugby World Cup in which every match was held in one country. The World Cup was the first major sporting event to take place in Sou ...

during May and June.

Jonathan Humphreys Jonathan Matthews Humphreys (born 27 February 1969) is a former Wales international rugby union player. He is now an Assistant Coach for Wales. Rugby Union career Playing career Amateur career Humphreys played for Kenfig Hill RFC and Cardiff ...

was named the captain, despite only having played for the national team on two previous occasions. Wales' only warm-up game was against South-East Transvaal on 29 August in Witbank. At the time, South-East Transvaal were playing in the third division of the

Currie Cup The Currie Cup is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition, played each winter and spring (June to October), featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premier ...

, South Africa's provincial competition. They came into the game having won eleven successive matches in the competition. South-East Transvaal won the game comfortably by 47 points to 6. They scored five tries, and fly-half Jacques Benade kicked all five conversions as well as three penalties and a drop-goal. Wales' only points came through two penalties kicked by their fly-half Aled Williams. The test match against South Africa took place on 2 September at

Ellis Park Stadium Ellis Park Stadium (known as Emirates Airline Park for sponsorship reasons) is a rugby union and association football stadium in the city of Johannesburg, Gauteng Province, South Africa. It hosted the final of the 1995 Rugby World Cup, which was ...

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

. This was a week after the sport was declared "open" with restrictions on payments to players removed, making it the first test match of rugby union's professional era. This was the ninth test match between the countries, but only the second match since 1970. South Africa had won seven of the previous encounters, with one draw between the sides. As the reigning world champions following their victory in June, South Africa were overwhelming favourites to win the match. South Africa won the game by 40 points to 11. Wales had taken an early lead when Mark Bennett scored a try in the third minute, immediately following which South Africa lock

Kobus Wiese Jakobus Johannes Wiese (born 16 May 1964) is a former South African rugby union player who played at lock for the South Africa national rugby union team between 1993 and 1996. He was a specialist number 2 jumper in the lineout, and rampant in th ...

punched an unsighted

Derwyn Jones Derwyn Jones (born 14 November 1970, in Carmarthen, Wales) is a former professional Welsh rugby union player and Welsh international. He is the tallest Welsh player to be capped at 6 ft 10 inches tall, and weighed over 20 stone at his ...

, knocking him out. The incident was missed by the officials, and Wiese was not sanctioned during the match. South Africa responded through tries from Wiese and Francois Pienaar, and at half-time led by 18 points to 8. In the second-half, Wales'

Neil Jenkins Neil Jenkins, (born 8 July 1971) is a Welsh former rugby union player and current coach. He played fly-half, centre, or full back for Pontypridd, Cardiff, Celtic Warriors, Wales and the British & Irish Lions. Jenkins is Wales' highest ever ...

kicked a penalty to reduce the gap to seven points. South Africa then scored three tries in seven minutes to extend their lead to 29 points. A minute before the end of the match, Wales'

Garin Jenkins Garin Jenkins (born 18 August 1966 in Ynysybwl) is a former Wales international rugby union player. He was the most capped Welsh hooker having attained 58 caps until surpassed by Matthew Rees Matthew may refer to: * Matthew (given name) * Mat ...

punched South Africa's Joost van der Westhuizen. The punch, which knocked out van der Westhuizen resulted in Jenkins being sent off by the referee. Following the game, Wales invoked citing procedures against Wiese for the punch against Derwyn Jones. As a result of receiving a red card, Garin Jenkins also faced disciplinary proceedings. Both Wiese and Jenkins were banned from playing rugby for 30 days for their actions.

Results

''Scores and results list Wales's points tally first.''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wales 1995 rugby union tours 1994–95 in Welsh rugby union

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

1995 in South African rugby union

History of rugby union matches between South Africa and Wales