The world champions South Africa recorded their 10th successive win over Wales - but only after surviving a major scare at the Millennium Stadium.
Wales trailed by 17 points approaching the hour-mark, yet four James Hook penalties gave the RBS 6 Nations title holders hope of a famous win before they went down 15-20.
They had not beaten the Springboks since 1999, and paid a hefty price for conceding 10 points during the opening nine minutes - and handing South Africa an interception try.
Hook, almost Wales' hero, also played the role of villain, as his first touch after replacing Stephen Jones was to find Jean de Villiers, rather than his team-mate Jamie Roberts.
De Villiers sprinted from inside his own half to score, giving South Africa the degree of breathing space they required.
Meanwhile, England ushered in a new era at Twickenham when they beat the Pacific Islanders 39-13 to kick off Martin Johnson's reign as the manager. The World Cup-winning captain Johnson named an adventurous line-up, including four new caps for his first Test in charge as he sought to revive the nation's rugby fortunes.
A crunching tackle by Jamie Noon on Aleki Lutui, which saw the Tongan hooker smashed into the turf, allowed England to halt an impressive start by the Islanders.
In another match, the New Zealand-born fly-half Quade Cooper scored a try with seven minutes remaining as Australia beat Italy 30-20.
With the score at 20-20, Luciano Orquera had a chance to put Italy in front but missed a penalty in the 67th minute at Euganeo stadium. Six minutes later, Cooper burst through for a try as Australia bounced back from its 19-14 loss to New Zealand last week. Italy host Argentina in Turin next Saturday.
* Agencies
Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?
The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.
Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.
New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.
“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.
The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.
The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.
Bloomberg
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
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