John Keats described Autumn as;

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;

In the Autumn Nations Series, Wales have been the lonely Banana left stranded in the fruit bowl, slowly turning black and looking more and more unappetising as the days go by.

Yesterday that banana was finally put out of its misery and thrown in the bin, and along with it the hopes and dreams of a proud rugby nation.

This was Wales twelfth defeat in a row and creates the damning and embarrassing statistic that they have gone an entire calendar year without a win, a feat, if you can call it that, last suffered in 1937.

There was a time when attending a rugby international in November necessitated the acquisition of gloves, scarves, hats, and even a hip flask to keep out the bitter cold.

These days, as the seasons all blend into one and the climate becomes as unreliable as the Welsh line out, some Autumn days are actually warmer than those we endured during a miserable summer.

However, yesterday, Storm Bert was in town and decided to hit Cardiff like a Damian De Allende tackle.

The rain fell from the heavens some say it was the tears of JPR, Barry, JJ and Grav, luckily the closed roof obscured their view of Welsh rugby at its lowest point in the professional era.

Just six days after being trampled and caught on the hop (forgive the pun) by the Wallabies, it was the turn of the antelope fraternity to pick over the Welsh rugby carcass.

The Springboks are a team for all seasons and all conditions. The apparent simplicity of their game would, you imagine, be equally simple to negate. But they do it so well, and with such power and physicality, whilst also continuing to provide more add-ons than even my O2 mobile phone contract can offer.

Before kick off, the only thing that appeared in doubt was the margin of victory for the visitors. The was even talk of Wales 96-18 defeat in 1998 being bettered.

The 45-12 score line does not make great reading and with the Springboks leading 26-5 at half-time the prospect of a second half avalanche looked ominous.

But what wales lacked in precision accuracy and physicality, they made up for in calon (heart) effort and sheer bravery.

Straw clutching may well have become a Welsh national pastime but to limit this Boks team to 19 second half points was a creditable effort.

Sadly, as Autumn turns to winter the problems throughout welsh rugby continue, and we still await a plan from the WRU, plus ça change as we say in West Wales