Wales destroyed by South Africa as awful errors and lack of experience undermine chances

In one way, Wales passed the ultimate test in a final World Cup warm-up game; not appearing to suffer any serious injuries.

Beyond that, this was a tough day at the office as the defending world champions took apart Warren Gatland's men with ease.

Cruising past the half-century, a 52-16 defeat to the Springboks wasn't what anyone would call the ideal send-off for France.

Here are the main talking points

Gulf in experience and moments of immaturity

This was never about the result. Of course it wasn't.

Because, on a day when South Africa went with plenty of experience and Wales virtually had anything but, the result largely took care of itself. However, Welsh errors only served to assist South African ruthlessness

According to Opta, the last time South Africa scored four or more tries in the first-half was against Canada back in the 2019 World Cup.

The fact they did so in Cardiff was of course down in part to their own good work. Manie Libbok may not be a deadeye goalkicker, but he adds an extra dimension to this Springbok side that could make them dangerous in their World Cup title defence. The Boks' second try demonstrated his playmaking abilities to full effect.

Throw in Siya Kolisi looking imperious on his return from injury and you can see why they had this one wrapped up before half-time. He took just four minutes to make his mark, slipping through a tackle before getting his hands free to put Malcolm Marx over for the opening score.

However, the decision to award a penalty try and send Rio Dyer to the sin-bin did help accelerate matters. Did Canan Moodie get a hand to it, knocking it on prior to Dyer nudging the ball dead? It appeared so on the replays, suggesting a Springbok knock-on could have been the right call.

For his part, Dyer worked hard to make amends, being constantly involved in the action on his return. He looked lively with ball in hand, while his kick-chase was a constant menace to the Springbok back-field.

Regardless of that decision, the gulf in experience shone through at times. South Africa's fourth try came from Mason Grady trying to avoid being carried over his own line for a five-metre scrum, instead slipping an offload skywards for Jesse Kriel to gladly gather.

Sometimes, you're better off just lying in the bed you've made, rather than opting for another cruder turn of phrase that also includes beds - and bowel movements.

That same inexperience perhaps cost them again in the second-half. Having broken down the left wing and got behind the Springboks, the killer instinct wasn't there - with Kieran Hardy's forced pass intended for Cai Evans picked off.

Seconds later, Kriel was touching down for his second. Another intercept would follow from a convoluted set-play inside their own half, with Moodie picking off Johnny Williams' pass after a couple of intricate pull-back passes and looping lines amounted to nothing.

Whether it was first-phase or if they'd buckled the initial South African defence, something just wasn't quite there. As the match went on and things broke up, that became more apparent as South Africa continued to build up a depressingly one-sided score while the song 'Living on a Prayer' rang out.

At least the stadium DJ has a sense of humour.

Lineout issues not quite solved yet

Last week, the Welsh lineout imploded at Twickenham to the point where it probably became England's best source of ball.

On the whole, things never got as bad here. Quite frankly, it's hard to see how they could have without slapping a bow and wrapping paper on the ball first.

There was one red-zone lineout that went awry, but Wales were solid if unspectacular in this regard.

What could be a cause for concern is how easy Wales remain to target when setting up an attacking maul.

Early on, South Africa did a good job in swimming through the Welsh jumpers and forcing a scrum from a Welsh attacking lineout.

Last week, Wales saw two similar chances go begging in the same fashion.

Fiji in Bordeaux on September 10 is *the* game. Wales can't afford to look beyond that as their World Cup is defined by the opening match.

Not playing into Fiji's hands is something of a cliche after the events of 16 years ago, but it doesn't take a genius to work out that Wales will need to dominate Fiji up front to put them to the sword.

Given how the Crusaders dispatched Fijian Drua through set-piece dominance, having a working maul will be crucial. Unfortunately, it looks subject to being targeted right now.

Prop problems

Speaking on Friday, forwards coach Jonathan Humphreys said that playing two props with a cap apiece in Corey Domachowski and Keiron Assiratti against the Springboks' front-row wasn't a gamble.

Of course it wasn't, given the need to see how they can cope against world-class opposition before deciding if they go out to France.

But, on the basis on the first-half, their chances of selection could be on the line. On more than one occasion, the Welsh pack were mangled by those in green.

There was the odd moment of fight-back - both by Domachowski and Assiratti, then by replacements Nicky Smith and Henry Thomas - but it was abundantly clear who was on top.

Humphreys hinted at the test of going up against a team that scrummages without "guessing games", perhaps a dig at how England maybe adopted some dark arts to get an edge.

However, how Wales dealt with a side that walked straight through "the front door" was a concern ahead of the World Cup.

With Jac, our captain...?

There were more than a few renditions of Sloop John B echoing out of Cardiff bars on the walk to the stadium before kick-off.

The Beach Boys hit became one of the resounding sounds of 2011, given the changed lyrics of 'With Sam our captain, we'll bring the cup home' summed up the optimism of the time.

Right now, the new lyrics haven't been penned in ink, but even in a heavy defeat, this felt like another step closer to the role for Jac Morgan.

There was nothing out of the ordinary, although a couple of scramble tackles on Cheslin Kolbe in acres of space while Wales were all at sea was mightily impressive, but the fact he was leading the side again is enough to suggest he'll be the skipper out in France.

This wasn't a day for auditions in truth, with some players hardly having much of a chance to press their case for a place on the plane, but there was probably enough to confirm Morgan as captain on this showing.