Wales kick off their summer fixtures in Twickenham against South Africa this weekend.
It’s the first of four matches for Warren Gatland’s side, who head to Australia for two tests against the Wallabies before playing against the Queensland Reds.
The Springboks are without several stars, including Siya Kolisi, Handre Pollard and Lukanyo Am ahead of their first test match since winning the World Cup in Paris last November and the fixture in London will be preparation for test matches against Ireland and Portugal ahead of The Rugby Championship.
It will be Wales’ first test match since March, where they ended the Six Nations with a wooden spoon, whilst they faced a Six Nations whitewash for the first time since 2003.
Gatland will be without many key players, including Josh Adams & Will Rowlands who have been rested from the summer matches and Jac Morgan who has suffered an injury in Ospreys’ URC quarter-final defeat to Munster earlier this month.
So, will it be business as usual for the Springboks and is there much hope for Wales on Saturday?
Where to watch?
The game will be shown live on S4C and Sky Sports, with kickoff at 2pm on Saturday, June 22, despite the WRU’s deleted social media post on Thursday suggesting that the game was set to kick off on Friday afternoon.
Team News
Vincent Koch is set to win his 50th cap, nine years after winning his first in 2015 but it will only be his 13th start for the national side. 10 of the matchday squad from the World Cup final are involved.
South Africa’s head coach Rassie Erasmus revealed in the week that he was set to select Frans Malherbe. But when the Stormers tighthead was alerted of the milestone of his teammate, he stepped aside to the bench to allow Koch to start.
Ox Nche and Malcolm Marx are also in the front row, with the latter playing his first game since September following a knee injury.
Eban Etzebeth has one cap less than the entire Welsh pack combined as he partners up with Franco Mostret in the second row, Pieter-Steph Du Toit captains the side with Kwagga Smith and Evan Roos in the back row.
There are two debutants in the backline as Lions duo Jordan Hendrikse and Edwin Van Der Merwe starting at fly-half and wing, whilst there’s plenty of experience amongst them as Faf De Klerk, Makazole Mapimpi and Jesse Kriel all start.
Sharks fullback Aphelele Fassi made the highest number of clean breaks and the most meters in the URC during the 23/24 season and is rewarded with a start at fullback.
There could be debuts for lock Ben-Jason Dixon and utility back Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu who start on the bench alongside Bongi Mbonambi & Damian De Allende.
Gatland has given Cardiff’s Ellis Bevan an international debut as he starts at scrumhalf, with Dewi Lake captaining the side from hooker.
Gareth Thomas starts at loosehead whilst Keiron Assiratti is a late addition to the starting XV as Henry Thomas has been ruled out of this fixture with a foot injury.
Dragons pair Matthew Screech and Ben Carter combine in the second row, Taine Plumtree is set for his third cap and his second start at Twickenham after Wales’ World Cup warm up against England last August.
James Botham was called up to the squad on Monday and has gone straight to starting alongside Plumtree and Aaron Wainwright in the back row.
Debutant Bevan will have Sam Costelow as his halfback partner, whilst Mason Grady starts at inside centre with Ospreys’ Owen Watkin at 13. Rio Dyer and Cam Winnett continue from the Six Nations with Liam Williams making his first Welsh appearance since the World Cup.
James Ratti was called up to the international squad on Tuesday morning and could win his first cap if he comes off the bench, whilst Eddie James and Jacob Beetham could also pick up their first caps.
Could a change in coaching setup bring a different style of play to Springboks?
With this fixture being the first for South Africa in a new four year World Cup cycle, there have been some changes since their win over New Zealand in November.
Jacques Nienaber departed after the tournament to join Leinster whilst attack coach Felix Jones went to join up with Steve Borthwick in England’s coaching ticket.
Erasmus is still at the helm and has moved back to the head coach position after four years as director of rugby as former Highlanders coach Tony Brown will focus on the attack with Jerry Flannery overseeing the defence.
Over the last few years, the Springboks have been a side that has kicked well and have imposed a blitz defence alongside the dominance of their set-piece.
It will be interesting to see if Flannery sticks with the blitz defence and can Brown add a spark to the Springbok attack alongside their strong tactical kicking or will they offer slight tweaks to Erasmus’ game plan?
Predictions
On paper, it should be a straightforward win for South Africa, especially with the names on Wales’ injury list.
Even if Gatland had a fully fit squad, with the fixture falling outside of the international test window, it was going to be a tricky task to see where a Welsh win would be coming from.
If the Boks gain control up front, where they tend to be strong. It could be a long afternoon for Welsh supporters – South Africa by 21.
Openside Blog 