Thursday, 8th October 1931 saw The Times preview the game in comprehensive fashion:-

"THE SOUTH AFRICANS IN WALES"

"FROM OUR RUGBY FOOTBALL CORRESPONDENT"

"The South Africans, having won their first match against a joint county fifteen at Bristol, where, in perfect conditions, they scored 14 points to 3, but, extraordinarily enough, no tries, will in the course of the next three days have their first experience of Welsh club Rugby as it is played in these days."

"Newport will be met this afternoon and Swansea on Saturday and, although there is not a great amount of optimism in the former town, the young side with apparently a strong pack of forwards at Swansea are not without hopes of sustaining the Welsh reputation for giving teams from the Dominions the fights of their lives. Needless to say, both the South Africans and their opponents measure their chances according to the state of the weather, the wet, as ever – though not as inflexibly as most people would contend – being taken to favour the Welshmen."

"The Newport side for this afternoon is known, but, the South Africans will not announce the composition of any of their teams until the morning of the match. It is no more than supposition, therefore, that the earlier failures of their pack at Bristol, where they were too often beaten for the ball – some of the Counties' hooking proved, however, to be rather expensive – and out-rushed in the loose, will lead to the trial of some other players. The ease with which the first South African pack, until at last their enormous advantage began to tell, had the ball swept through them in the loose, and the general slowness in going down to the ball, might well have cost their side the match on a wet day, when the wonderful fielding and kicking that beat back the West Countrymen would not have been accomplished so often, if at all. Nor was the play among most of the backs so fast and polished as every one had expected on a fine day and firm going. There is the likelihood that several changes will be made in the three-quarter line, more admittedly for the purpose of experiment than anything else. J. H. van der Westhuizen, who can play in various positions, may on this occasion take the place of F. Venter, in which case his first game will be on the left wing. Newport also may see the least-known man of all, J. White, a reserve centre and a runner with a beautiful action, who can if required fill the stand-off half-back or full-back positions. P. de Villiers too, may be rested at Newport and D. Craven, the young Stellenbosch player, given his chance to partner Osler. The last named appears to be such a master of the art of nursing his strength that we may well find him in action in nearly all the matches."

"The Newport team, though singularly unsuccessful in recent seasons, has a good number of first-class men at their disposal. Everson still is at full-back, a moderate three-quarter line has J. C. Morley to show them the way how to snatch chances if they cannot develop them, A. R. Ralph, who has not gone to Scotland after all, will be available at stand-off half, and it is something for a pack to have men like P. C. Hordern, the old Oxford Blue, and H. W. Peacock in the scrimmage. Nearly all of the other well-known Newport forwards appear to have dropped out this afternoon."

"It remains to be seen if Newport once more can rise to a great occasion and, as in 1912, become the first side to beat a South African team."

There were no substantial articles in the match programme, merely notes on previous games.

The third Springbok team to play Newport were a mighty and formidable collection of players. They came to Wales determined to put the 1912 defeat to the 'Black and Ambers' behind them and did so comprehensively. A huge forward pack, unusual for its time, dominated the game ensuring that the South Africans won by four tries and a penalty to a solitary try.

Newport played much of the second half with only fourteen players after centre Edwards had to leave the field but this was probably incidental as they were outthought and outmanoeuvred.

Jack Morley was the star of the Newport team with a typical flamboyant performance of strong running, swerving around defenders as if they were stood still and offloading the ball to supporting runners at the key moment. It was such a devastating break that led to the home try for Richards.

Even though the visitors scored four tries, the kicking tactics of outside half Osler was the main talking point after the game.

9th October 1931 saw the following report carried by The Times:-

"SOUTH AFRICANS' VICTORY AT NEWPORT"

"FROM OUR RUGBY FOOTBALL CORRESPONDENT"

"The South Africans beat Newport yesterday by a penalty goal and four tries (15 points) to a try (3 points), a score which, because of the four tries, represented a distinct improvement upon the victory at Bristol in the opening match of the tour. Taken at its face value, yesterday's success represented a notable achievement as compared with the defeat of the second South African team on the same ground in 1912."

"A crowd that hardly could have been much larger in the space available watched the game, which was played in conditions not so perfect in every way as those at Bristol, but for all that very little affected by the showery weather. The ball was rather slippery, but as a matter of fact, it was not so much faulty handling as poorly-timed passes – those of the South African midfield players still hung in the air badly – that spoiled so many promising movements."

"From Newport in a lean period perhaps one expected too little and forgot how Welsh tradition and atmosphere can warm their sides to a great effort against South African and New Zealand giants. From these South Africans, perhaps, one expected too much so early in the tour. With a side that, except for the absence of Gray at centre, probably was the best available, it was a genuine pleasure for the impartial spectator to note an all-round improvement. On the other hand, there remains a sense of disappointment that once more two wing men of great possibilities were so poorly served and, although the forwards on this occasion played greatly at intervals, they were by no means the effective force they were always promising to be."

"At half-time the score was no more than six points to three, and in the second half Newport were without Edwards, one of their centres, who had been carried off on a stretcher suffering, it was feared, from a ruptured stomach muscle. It followed that a forward had to be taken from the scrimmage to ill the gap outside, and in the circumstances it was surprising that Newport continued to have so much of the play. As a team of athletes the South Africans promise to keep on improving, and, perhaps even because of that, at the moment there is something lacking all round in the development of passing movements, in midfield defence, in tactics, generally, and, last but not least, in getting the ball out sharply after a tremendous shove had done everything else. Early in the game the South Africans showed they could wheel a scrimmage and go through with dash as well as mere weight, but they still lacked the capacity to sustain an attack for long."

"The South Africans were taking a lot of holding in the opening minutes, but they would not have scored their first try but for a very hesitant pass by Tovey, the opposing scrimmage half-back, and the luck of the bounce when Zimmerman, on the left wing, leaped for a long cross-punt by Osler, after that player had intercepted the pass referred to. Still, there was something really splendid in Zimmerman's dash for the corner flag, and when, soon afterwards, a move started by De Villiers and closely backed up by several forwards enabled S. C. Louw to score a second tr, the South Africans seemed to have found themselves, and Newport looked to be in for a bad beating. Instead, it was the Welshmen who seized the initiative, and thanks to the cleverness of J. C. Morley, one of the greatest opportunists of his day, they scored the best try of the match. Morley, as he has done so often before, suddenly turned a commonplace passing movement into success by running inwards through the centre, always promising to get rid of the ball but not doing so until the line had been almost reached and the right man was at hand. This proved to be K. Richards, and the crowd had hardly finished cheering a great run before Everson dashed their hopes of a goal by hitting one of the posts with his kick. As Brand had failed to convert either of the South Africans' tries almost from the touchline there remained only a lead of three points at the interval. Newport nearly paid a much heavier penalty than they eventually did for the persistent off-side play of D. A. Jones, one of their forwards. In the first half neither the touch-finding, drop kicking at goal, nor the place-kicking of the South Africans quite reached the standard set at Bristol. Still, just before half-time the crowd had two anxious moments when Osler found himself in front of the goal-posts and got near enough with his dropping kicks."

"In the second half the South Africans again started like a dangerous team and, after J. H. Westhuizen on the right wing had shown his powers, van der Merwe forced his way over in a powerful forward rush. In due course came the almost inevitable penalty goal, well kicked by Brand, and not long afterwards a try by Osler on the blind side of a scrimmage formed close to the goal-line. That ought to have been the finish o Newport, but it was not, and for the rest of the game they attacked most of the time, and with Tovey at last in form something was seen of Ralph."

"The teams were:-"

"NEWPORT.- W. A. Everson, back; J. C. Morley (captain), K. Richards, J. R. Edwards, and K. Watkins, three-quarter backs; A. R. Ralph and R. Tovey, half-backs; P. C. Horden, D. A. Jones, J. A. Addison, D. E. J. Hughes, H. C. Peacock, W. R. Newton, J. C. Slade, and S. Danaher, forwards."

"SOUTH AFRICANS.- G. Brand (Western Province), back; J. K. van der Westhuizen (Western Province), J. C. van der Westhuizen (Western Province), F. W. Waring (Western Province), and M. Zimmerman (Western Province, three-quarter backs; B. L. Osler (captain), (Western Province), and P. de Villiers (Western Province), half-backs; J. N. Bierman (Transvaal), G. M. Dancel (Western Province), P. J. Nel (Natal), A. van der Merwe (Western Province), M. M. Louw (Western Province), P. J. Mostert (Western Province), and S. C. Louw (Western Province), forwards."

"REFEREE.- R. W. Barry."