Lynn moved Keira Bevan to 10 before kick-off, a switch that paid immediate dividends. Courtney Keight, the recently crowned Welsh Rugby Writers' player of the year, finished the opening movement to open the scoring. Sisilia Tuipulotu powered over twice, one try in each half, while Seren Lockwood, Maisie Davies, Kelsey Jones, Lisa Neumann and Alex Callender also crossed. Freya Bell converted five times for Wales.
The first half proved decisive. Wales struck six times before the interval, exploiting South African indiscipline and numerical disadvantages. Hooker Lindelwa Gwala was sin-binned for offside during the opening period, and a high tackle on Kate Williams saw South African lock Lochner sent to the sin bin, a sanction later upgraded to a 20-minute red, leaving the visitors short-handed as Wales finished the half 38-5 ahead.
Wales were forced into an early reshuffle when Lockwood failed to return from a head injury assessment, with Bevan moving back to scrum-half and Lleucu George coming on at 10. That disruption did not halt the momentum; Tuipulotu's second try pushed Wales further clear early in the second half, described in the match report as giving Wales a 40-point lead.
South Africa, ranked three places above Wales before the match, showed resilience after the break. Felicia Jacobs had earlier taken advantage of a dominant scrum to score for the visitors, and Maria Tshiremba added another try. Aphiwe Ngwevu provided the assist for Maceala Samboya's notable effort, and the visitors finished with three second-half tries in total, but could not close the gap.
Alex Callender returned from injury to captain Wales alongside Kelsey Williams and earned player-of-the-match recognition for an influential performance. Front-row replacements Shanelle Williams and Elan Jones made their international debuts off the bench. Wales also secured a bonus point in the opening fixture of the WXV Global Series, completing a comprehensive night under the Cardiff lights.
