At the third time of asking Wales managed to make in-roads on the South African defence and at last managed to penetrate the their try-line with a sole strike by Sgili Davies. However a missed conversion proved costly and Wales were five points adrift of their rivals at the final whistle in front of 35,000 in Swansea.
The 1931 Springboks, captained by Bennie Osler, were seen as a dour and uncompromising team whose tactics were based solely around the boot of their captain and the dive-passing of scrum-half Danie Craven. The efficiency of this South African team caught Wales cold and Davies’s effort was cancelled out by tries from Andre McDonald and Ferdie Bergh and a conversion added by Osler.
The efficiency of Osler’s men was summed up by the statistic that they had won all seven of their touring matches in Wales, a feat which no other touring Springbok side had done or has done thus far.
