WILL Rowlands has called on Wales to improve their discipline heading into their second test with South Africa.

Wayne Pivac’s side gave away 15 penalties and received four yellow cards – meaning they were reduced to 12 men at one stage – in the late 32-29 defeat at Loftus Versfeld.

Speaking ahead of the second test in Bloemfontein, Rowlands said he wants to see that penalty count dramatically reduced to boost Wales’ chances of a historic win.

“It was a game we could have won and definitely should have drawn. That’s why we feel so disappointed,” he said.

“There were some good aspects about our performance, and we put them under some pressure, but there are definitely things for us to work on that ultimately stopped us getting a result.

“Our discipline is one of them. We gave away too many penalties which led to them getting a number of driving line-outs in our 22.

“They are hard to defend and we have to focus on cutting down the number of penalties we concede to limit their chances. We need to be able to impose our game on them.”

Rowlands played the full 80 minutes, and his performance highlighted why he was named as the Welsh Rugby Writers’ Association ‘Welsh Player of the Year’ last year.

“I enjoyed the game and I love playing for Wales,” he said. “It’s great to be able to challenge the best players in the world, especially the South African locks.

“Line-out wise it was okay, but we just found ourselves defending so many mauls. They weren’t able to kick to the corner so much in the first half.

“Having players in the sin bin made it even more difficult in the second half. We knew what was coming from the Springboks, but it is a whole different kettle of fish trying to deal with it.”

This weekend’s second test will once again be played at altitude, before the sides head to Cape Town for the third test.

“There is a belief amongst us that we can still go on to win the series,” said Rowlands. “We were disappointed after the first Test, but now we’re excited at what we can do this weekend. 

“I don’t really know what to expect in the second Test, but hopefully it is just more of the same. It really was a fantastic atmosphere in Pretoria and I felt very lucky to be a part of it.  

“I hope it is more of the same because playing in those big rugby cauldrons filled with passionate fans is ultimately what you want to be doing. I am really enjoying my rugby at the moment and long may that continue. 

“It would be nice to win the first game on SA soil and make a bit of history, but from my point of view whenever you play a Test match you take it as it comes. You just want to go out there and win.  

“You don’t think about the history as the game is going on. We want to get a result because we are playing Test rugby and we are here to win.”