Wales beat South Africa 22-20 in Washington DC

Ryan Elias' late try gave Wales a 22-20 victory against a much-changed South Africa in Washington DC.

Warren Gatland's side took a 11-point lead into half-time but South Africa fought back strongly after the break.

The Springboks, who named seven debutants, led 22-17 with five minutes to play but an error by replacement Robert du Preez gifted Wales the win.

Wales now travel to Argentina for two Tests against the Pumas, on Saturday, 9 June and Saturday, 16 June.

The game struggled to entertain in the early stages, with most scrums needing to be reset, as both teams failed to get a foothold into what began as a very scrappy game.

South Africa's Elton Jantjies scored the first points of the game from the boot after 20 minutes after Wales conceded a penalty at the breakdown.

Steff Evans was then forced off after 30 minutes with a knee injury and was replaced by Hadleigh Parkes, and the Scarlets centre made an immediate impact.

Ellis Jenkins forced the Springboks into a mistake which set Wales free in South African territory. Jenkins, Parkes and Ross Moriarty then showed quick hands before full-back Hallam Amos went over for the opening try.

Minutes later, Wales were over again. Tomos Williams, who was winning his first Wales cap, broke two tackles five metres from the line to score a debut try.

Gareth Anscombe made no mistake with the conversion once again as Wales took a 14-3 lead into the break.

Travis Ismaiel gave South Africa the perfect start to the second half, intercepting Amos' loose pass for the simplest of finishes.

Anscombe got Wales on the board in the second half with a well-taken penalty before Wales missed a glorious opportunity to extend their lead once again.

Moriarty powered over the gain line before sidestepping a couple of Springbok defenders.

From the breakdown the ball was spread wide where several Welsh players lay in wait against just a couple of Springboks, but centre Owen Watkin knocked the ball on and the chance went begging.

Watkin was then shown a yellow card for deliberately playing the ball out of bounds under pressure from Jesse Kriel, denying the Springbok a clear try-scoring opportunity.

With a man advantage, South Africa soon got their try. Dominance at the scrum gave the southern hemisphere side the perfect platform to get the ball wide to wing Makazole Mapimpi who scored in the corner.

Replacement Du Preez kicked South Africa into a three-point lead with minutes left on the clock but he soon turned villain as his mistake gifted Wales the win in the United States of America.

Tomos Williams charged down Du Preez's late kick and the ball fell kindly to Welsh replacement hooker Elias who sealed Wales' third consecutive win over the Springboks.

Williams impresses on debut

Williams impressed throughout against South Africa, as the Cardiff Blues scrum-half showed why Gatland picked him to win his first cap.

The debutant started off on the right foot, making a crucial tackle on Travis Ismaiel to stop the southern hemisphere side going over early on.

As the first half was drawing to a close, Williams scored his first international try after shrugging off the attention of both Jason Jenkins and Ivan van Zyl to cross over.

It was the scrum-half's determination in closing down South African clearances that led to Wales' winning try, as his block deflected Elias to score the winning try.

With Rhys Webb now unavailable for Wales selection following his move from Ospreys to Toulon, Williams showed against South Africa why he should be considered in the future as an alternative to Gareth Davies and Aled Davies.

Captain Ellis Jenkins was superb in attack and defence as he demonstrated Wales' strength in depth at openside flanker with Sam Warburton and Josh Navidi injured, Justin Tipuric rested and James Davies also in the summer tour squad.

Wales: Hallam Amos; Tom Prydie, George North, Owen Watkin, Steff Evans; Gareth Anscombe, Tomos Williams; Nicky Smith, Elliot Dee, Dillon Lewis; Cory Hill, Bradley Davies; Seb Davies, Ellis Jenkins (capt), Ross Moriarty.

Replacements: Ryan Elias, Wyn Jones, Rhodri Jones, Adam Beard, Aaron Wainwright, Aled Davies, Rhys Patchell, Hadleigh Parkes.

South Africa: Curwin Bosch; Travis Ismaiel, Jesse Kriel, Andre Esterhuizen, Makazole Mapimpi; Elton Jantjies, Ivan van Zyl; Ox Nche, Chiliboy Ralepelle, Wilco Louw, Jason Jenkins, Pieter-Steph du Toit (capt), Kwagga Smith, Oupa Mohoje, Dan du Preez

Replacements: Akker van der Merwe, Steven Kitshoff, Thomas du Toit, Marvin Orie, Sikhumbuzo Notshe, Embrose Papier, Robert du Preez, Warrick Gelant

Referee: Matthew Carley (RFU).

Assistant referees: Alexandre Ruiz (FR) and Frank Murphy (IRE).

TMO: David Grashoff (RFU).