There were to be no crumbs of comfort gained by Wales that they were beaten by one flash of inspiration from Springbok captain Fourie Du Preez and Duane Vermuelen.
Their exit from the World Cup was rooted in a first half where they had plenty of the attacking play but left opportunities scattered around Twickenham.
At the same time Warren Gatland's team handed South Africa penalties – the one thing they said beforehand that they were not going to do.
That was, said Welsh flanker and captain Sam Warburton, the most disappointing part of their evening in London. He also absolutely said they would not blame this defeat to their long list of injured players.
“It could have asked any more of the guys,” said Warburton. “The 12 points in first half.. .we gave away four penalties. We said we can’t give penalties in that area of the field and we did. To give 12 points away like that was disappointing.
“I don’t think we can blame the injuries. We played with a full strength forward pack. If we’d lost seven or eight of the forwards we’d have been struggling.”
Gatland, never a naturally happy looking coach, bemoaned the final scrum. He could talk about the game. He could talk about the South African try but don’t ask the disappointed Kiwi to emote.
“That’s a dumb question,” he said when asked how the team was feeling. “How do you think we are? We’re absolutely gutted. My emotions, that’s not what I want to talk about.
“The boys put their bodies on the line, emptied the tank but unfortunately were not able to hold on for 80 minutes. Really disappointed. But I couldn’t have asked any more from the players.
“Wales can be very proud with the performance and commitment. Coming out of group was hard to but it set us up for what was a tough game today. They emptied the tank today and that’s all we can ask for. I’m very proud of how they performed.
“We scrummed well, stopped the threat of maul at lineout time,” added Gatland. “They came pretty hard at us with one up runners. I thought we were unlucky with the last scrum they scored. I thought Bryan Habana was offside and it wasn’t picked up. That’s disappointing.”
Heyneke Meyer, the South African coach thanked god, thanked his team, said they will stay humble and said that any one of the last eight teams could win this World Cup. He then asked that his team would remain written off by the world media as that seems to bring out the best in them. But the root of their success, he was certain, was their character.
“First I want to thank the Lord,” said Meyer. “It feels like I still need oxygen. It was unbelievable. We’re blessed. We really have tears in our eyes. It could have gone either way. Wales, they are a quality team.
“But we are like charcoal. Put us under pressure and we become diamonds.
“I would like to kiss Fourie,” added the coach. “I always said coaching is over rated. You pick players with characters. Knock out rugby is about character. Games like this you have to grind them out.”
Meyer went on to outline what a great captain, his third choice, Fourie du Preez, has been. He had said it during the week and he reiterated the point on Saturday.
“He is a rugby and a tactical genius,” said Meyer of du Preez. “He was always the guy organising the team, making the tactical decisions. I am really happy for him. We were in desperation mode.
“I will always pick him. He’s a guy who really wants to win. Fourie is driven even more than me. I knew we needed desperate measures. To get here with two captains out is brilliant. They all followed him.”
