Wales went down to a 15-24 defeat to Heyneke Meyer’s Springboks despite five penalties from Leigh Halfpenny keeping them in the game.
In the end, Fourie du Preez’s second half try proved to be the vital score, the scrum half’s effort pulling South Africa clear.
It followed first half South African tries from captain Jean de Villiers and hooker Bismarck du Plessis. The hugely physical encounter was of no surprise, but left Wales nursing bumps and bruises at the final whistle. Liam Williams, Jonathan Davies and Adam Jones were all forced off and were followed in the second half by replacement prop Scott Andrews.
“It was brutal from start to finish. South Africa were aggressive in both attack and defence,” said Hibbard.
“I think the boys stuck to it well and we went toe to toe but they won in the end. It was frustrating today, we went into the game sure we could win it. We focused on the win all week and a few things went wrong and we know what South Africa are like.
“They’ve just come off beating good teams in the Rugby Championship and they got on top in the end.”
Hibbard reckoned the injuries to some of Wales’ key men had an influence on the game but believes Warren Gatland’s men should take a great deal of heart from the performance.
“We prepared all week and then we lost three players from the pitch. It’s tough for the boys coming into positions where they haven’t practiced,” said the Wales hooker.
“But I think they did really well. We’ll certainly take a lot of positives out of this game. Our scrum and set piece went well and I think the physicality of the boys was great.
“If we keep that intensity up we can set a target of three out of four wins.”
