Former Wales prop Adam Jones has sung the praises of Wayne Pivac's forward pack for standing up to the might of South Africa as he backed them to beat them in Bloemfontein.
The 100-cap former tighthead has toured South Africa on a number of occasions, cementing his place as one of the world's best on the 2009 Lions tour before winning his final cap in Durban in 2014. And Jones, who is now forging a successful coaching career at Harlequins, believes there was plenty to be positive about despite the last-gasp defeat in Pretoria.
In particular, Jones was full of praise for the performances of the Welsh props and how the pack in general refused to be bullied. With the Springboks making a raft of changes, Jones believes the first Test in Pretoria wasn't their best chance at victory as he backed Pivac's side to challenge once again for a first win on South African soil.
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"It's funny someone was having a go at Dan Biggar for being in their faces when they're the most in-your-face team you can play," said Jones. "They pride themselves on that physical and verbal edge.
"You can't go out there and not match them physically. The 1974 Lions had the 99 call to fight fire with fire. Obviously you can't do that anymore, but I thought the fact we stood up to them was brilliant.
"They've done it for years to every other team. When teams do stand up to them, they don't like it. Is hypocritical the right word? They don't like having it done back to them.
"I thought it was a masterstroke to pick Dan Lydiate, while Gareth Thomas and Dillon Lewis really fronted up. It was a fantastic performance by the Welsh pack across the 80 minutes.
"A few decisions went against us. The Louis Rees-Zammit one was horrendously tough. That was the classic referee going with the home crowd decision. Was he in the position to see Rees-Zammit's release? If you can go to the TMO for that, you should. It cost us seven points and a card so it was a huge turning point.
"They'll have wanted to prove a lot of people wrong. How will they take it next week with that South Africa team? It's all changed, but there's still talent. It's at altitude again so it'll be tough.
"But this Welsh team won't have put all their eggs in one basket here. They'll be ready for another crack at them. I don't think it'll be a one-off performance. We've got an opportunity to beat them with such a changed side.
"Wales won't be thinking 'oh God, here they come again' with that many changes. I think we can take them on."
When it came to Jones' area of expertise, the scrum, he was pleased with how Wales had dealt with the powerful Boks weapon. The first scrum of the afternoon may have resulted in a penalty against Dillon Lewis, while one late on saw Wales almost driven off their own feed, but Jones believes the pack more than held their own against the world champions.
"There was one scrum in the second-half when Owen Waktin was on the flank," he explained. "They pushed us back and Taulupe managed to get it out.
"But the pleasing thing was how square Dillon Lewis stayed. If he turned in on an angle or tried to bail out, they would have got a penalty. The fact he stayed square, despite getting pushed back, meant there wasn't a penalty.
"I thought Dillon was brilliant. He did a real good job. The penalty in the first-half, we didn't get marched back but it's a call that the ref or touch judge has to make.
"He probably couldn't see the first one with Dillon. It's on the touch judge and sometimes the reputation of the opposition player goes with you.
"If it goes down, whether their loosehead hinges or Dillon flattens out on the floor, their reputation means they'll probably get those 50/50 calls. That shouldn't be the case but it is.
"I was really impressed with the front-row. I was surprised Tomas Francis didn't start, but Dillon was outstanding. So was Gareth Thomas.
Speaking about the work Taulupe Faletau does under pressure at the back of the scrum, Jones added: "The thing about No. 8 is, as long as Taulupe is engaged on the set, he'll add weight, but he's got in the back of his mind that he might have to go fishing for that ball. What he is good at is he can go in between the second-rows' feet now and get the ball.
"Hopefully Ryan Elias and Dewi Lake get a good strike and channel between the 9 and 8. Humphs (Jonathan Humphreys) will be working on that hard this week.
"There's no shame in knowing you'll be under pressure as they've got a good scrum. Wales aren't a small side though. Frans Malherbe is heavier than everyone, but otherwise it's probably pretty similar. I love we went toe to toe with them.
"To get the maul try back down a couple of men was so good. The way the pack fronted up everywhere after all the stick of the Italy game, it was chalk and cheese."
Of course, this weekend will see an almost completely changed Springbok pack take on Wales. For their part, following Tomas Francis' return to Wales, Pivac will be blooding an uncapped tighthead off the bench in either Saracen Sam Wainwright or Scarlet Harri O'Connor.
Whoever is handed their debut will face the tough prospect of a first cap against a Springbok pack - albeit a different one to last weekend's. However, Jones sees it as a huge opportunity.
"It's obviously tough," he admitted. "I don't know much about O'Connor but I've coached against Wainwright in Premiership Cup and A League games with Saracens.
"I've paid a bit of attention to him to see what he offers. He's a big, solid kid. The big benefit is that he trains with Vincent Koch, Mako Vunipola and Jamie George every day. Top class props and hookers. Doing scrum training against Maro Itoje and Nick Isiekwe will stand him in good stead.
"O'Connor will be well-coached by Ben Franks at the Scarlets. He's very technical. They're both young men who want to work hard.
"Whoever gets the nod will have a great opportunity to have a crack. The loosehead on the bench for South Africa is a young lad. I saw the try he scored the other day which puts most props to shame. Their pack might take a bit of time to bed in, but it's a South Africa pack at altitude.
"But the chance to go to South Africa and have a crack at that age is a huge one. They'll both be well-coached so it's a case of biting down on the gumshield and giving it a good go. It's tough to go out there at that age, from personal experience, but if you get through it, it's a great experience.
"You just have to rely on the techniques you've learned in training and trust the back-five to help you out. The depth Wales will have in that tighthead position come the World Cup will be fantastic."
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