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Welsh on the hunt for streaker blamed for ’98 defeat to Boks

Cape Town - Welsh media are on the hunt for a streaker who they believe played a role in a defeat to the Springboks at London’s Wembley Stadium 20 years ago.

On November 14, 1998, Wales - who had just hired New Zealander Graham Henry as coach - were leading the Springboks 20-17 with three minutes to play before fate intervened... in the form of a male streaker.

A long-haired, bearded man streaked on to the field ahead of a Welsh lineout and play was halted for a few minutes.

After the restart, an overthrown Wales lineout enabled the Boks to hit back and eventually claim a 28-20 win.

Henry was not a happy camper afterwards and according to the Wales Online website the coach quipped that the streaker “should be shot”.

“He didn’t do us any favours. If he was Welsh, he didn’t know much about rugby," Henry said.

A Wales victory that day would have been a major upset as earlier that year they had succumbed to a 96-13 loss to the Springboks in Pretoria, prompting then-Bok coach Nick Mallett to call them the worst international side he had seen.

Wales got their revenge the following year when they beat the Boks at the opening of the new Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. The 29-19 win was Wales' first ever win over the Boks.

But the Welsh haven't forgotten about the streaker who the Wales Online is now looking for, calling on the man or people who know him to contact the publication.

Saturday's Test between Wales and South Africa in Cardiff is scheduled for 19:20 (SA time).

Teams:

Wales

15 Liam Williams, 14 George North, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Hadleigh Parkes, 11 Josh Adams, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Ross Moriarty, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (captain), 4 Adam Beard, 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Nicky Smith

Substitutes: 16 Elliot Dee, 17 Rob Evans, 18 Dillon Lewis, 19 Cory Hill, 20 Ellis Jenkins, 21 Tomos Williams, 22 Dan Biggar, 23 Owen Watkin

South Africa

15 Willie le Roux, 14 S’bu Nkosi, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Aphiwe Dyantyi, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 Franco Mostert, 4 RG Snyman, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Steven Kitshoff

Substitutes: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Thomas du Toit, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Eben Etzebeth, 20 Francois Louw, 21 Ivan van Zyl, 22 Elton Jantjies, 23 Cheslin Kolbe

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