As his rival coach Heyneke Meyer was jumping around and delightedly punching the air, Warren Gatland shook his head mournfully at another one that got away for Wales.
Despite an injury toll that would have rendered many other backlines useless, Wales was leading two-time champion South Africa with five minutes to go in their Rugby World Cup quarterfinal on Saturday.
One scrum changed it all. Springboks winger Bryan Habana forced the scrum, racing out of a ruck deep in the Welsh quarter and forcing a turnover. No. 8 Duane Vermeulen picked up the ball at the base of a wheeling scrum, drew in the Welsh scrumhalf and right winger on the blindside and unloaded to his skipper Fourie du Preez, who took off on an arching run before diving into the left corner to give South Africa the 23-19 win.
"Going out now seems very premature," Wales captain Sam Warburton said. "The changing room at the end was very quiet. It's difficult to find the words."
Warburton's squad reached the semifinals in 2011 and emerged from the toughest group this time with a comeback 28-25 win over host England and a narrow defeat to two-time champion Australia. The Welsh didn't concede a try against the Wallabies last week, but also failed to convert a two-man advantage in that game.
Wales had only once beaten South Africa before a victory in Cardiff last November, a victory that gave Warburton immense confidence.
Injuries took a toll, however, with a host of backline stars ruled out of the tournament, including influential fullback and goalkicker Leigh Halfpenny. Flyhalf Dan Biggar stepped into the breach as goalkicker, and was accurate and reliable right through the tournament, and against South Africa.
He landed a penalty, kicked an up-and-under and re-gathered to set up a try for his halves partner Gareth Davies, which he converted, and then slotted a dropped goal to give Wales a 13-12 lead at halftime. All South Africa's points came off the boot of Handre Pollard at that stage.
Biggar added two penalty goals to extend the lead to six points before the Springboks cut the margin again.
The loose forwards on both teams seemed to be everywhere, making continuity difficult for the backs, but Biggar was directing the Welsh traffic with aplomb against a more experienced South Africa lineup that was struggling to contain them.
He was tackling like a forward, too, with the Springboks sending waves of attackers in his direction, until he was injured in the 74th minute and had to leave the field for a head injury assessment. He was unhappy about it, too, asking the trainers and team staffers why he couldn't be in the thick of it when he was most needed.
Du Preez scored a minute later, the one lapse for Wales that put them out of the tournament.
"I am sure that in the days and weeks to come we will take some positives and be proud of what we've achieved, but ultimately we've failed in our goal which was reaching the final," Biggar said. "The overall emotion should be that we just came short as a team today, and that is hugely, hugely disappointing, and no matter how individuals played today, it is still disappointing."
No. 8 Taulupe Faletau said the loss would "hurt me harder than anything I have ever experienced."
"Everything was going to plan, but it wasn't meant to be," he said. "We are devastated."
The Welsh players conceded too many penalties within kicking range for Pollard in the first half, and it proved costly as the Springboks accumulated points consistently while the lead changed six times.
"At the end of the day, South Africa did what South Africa do. They hung in there right until the end. They got one chance and they took it," Gatland said. "I couldn't have asked for more from the players in terms of effort. Wales can be very proud of these players."
This content appears as provided to The Globe by the originating wire service. It has not been edited by Globe staff.