Cruelly, Wales discovered against South Africa in Pretoria that there are no prizes for winning the first halves of rugby matches.
It was also beyond unlucky for them to lose a player in a position where they could least afford to lose anyone.
Possibly, Wayne Pivac might have considered ordering extra supplies of cotton wool to keep Tomas Francis in one piece heading into the Test series against South Africa. The prop left these shores with a back niggle or two but the coaches would have hoped — prayed even — that he would be able to play a full part in the Tests. He is, after all, the only proven Test-class scrummaging No. 3 in the tourists’ squad.
