{"id":43106,"date":"2025-11-26T17:21:46","date_gmt":"2025-11-26T17:21:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/?p=43106"},"modified":"2025-11-26T17:21:46","modified_gmt":"2025-11-26T17:21:46","slug":"wales-pick-rookies-for-springbok-test-in-cardiff-date-time-venue-score","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/2025\/11\/26\/wales-pick-rookies-for-springbok-test-in-cardiff-date-time-venue-score\/","title":{"rendered":"Wales pick rookies for Springbok Test in Cardiff"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Wales coach <strong>Steve Tandy<\/strong> insisted on Wednesday he had faith in the largely untested team he has selected to face world champions <strong>South Africa<\/strong> this weekend.<\/p>\n<p>Tandy has been deprived of 13 squad members who have returned to club duties because Saturday\u2019s fixture at Cardiff\u2019s Principality Stadium falls outside of the international Test window.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Free Spins, Flights, and Bets on Betway<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It means the starting XV has just <strong>267<\/strong> caps, with five players still in single figures. Winger Rio Dyer, who did not feature in Wales\u2019 first three Autumn Tests, hasn\u2019t played for six weeks.<\/p>\n<p>The replacement front row has just two caps between the three of them, a daunting prospect against a forward-heavy team such as the Springboks, who traditionally pride themselves on their scrummaging prowess and ferocity in the loose.<\/p>\n<p>The most capped player \u2013 with 61 \u2013 is No 8 Aaron Wainwright, back from an injury that ruled him out of the 52-26 defeat by New Zealand last week.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-great-opportunity\"><strong>\u2018Great opportunity\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s great opportunity for the boys,\u201d maintained Tandy, who has overseen a victory over Japan (24-23) inbetween losses to Argentina (52-28) and the All Blacks.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s never perfect because some of the boys haven\u2019t played for a period of time\u2026 but it\u2019s just a great opportunity to see where we\u2019re at.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Tandy, who took over from interim coach Matt Sherratt following Warren Gatland\u2019s departure after a second spell at the helm of Welsh rugby, said lack of game time was not necessarily an issue.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou can never replicate playing South Africa at any given week\u2026 (but) they get lots of rugby and contact,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe feel we\u2019re giving them the best chance to get out there and play.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese boys are so well conditioned that I feel they do pick it up, because they do play an awful lot of rugby through the season.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-ultimate-physical-test\"><strong>Ultimate physical test<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Tandy added: \u201cIs it perfect? No, I just see it as a challenge that we got to get over.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"South Africa coach Rassie Erasmus\" data-loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Wales-pick-rookies-for-Springbok-Test-in-Cardiff.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><strong><em>South Africa coach Rassie Erasmus. Image: Paul Faith \/ AFP<\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The Springboks opened their Autumn campaign with a 61-7 thrashing of Japan before beating France (32-17), Italy (32-14) and Ireland (24-13).<\/p>\n<p>The back-to-back Rugby World Cup winners have thrived under coach Rassie Erasmus, who has developed an enviable strength in depth.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey\u2019re incredible,\u201d Tandy said. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey\u2019re stacked really deep. They\u2019ve probably got two or three teams they can put up. But it\u2019s amazing that we get to play them.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou can see what South Africa did to France and Ireland. South Africa are probably the ultimate test of physicality.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have no doubt in my mind, our boys will be pitching in on the weekend. You can\u2019t get experience unless you go and do it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThose boys who haven\u2019t had the experience, they\u2019re going to experience something that they learn and, again, will rise to the challenge of that.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere will be moments when South Africa will get dominance, but that\u2019s the learning and experience. They\u2019re feeling it and and then it\u2019s about once that game ends. How can we close that gap? How do we get better individually and as a group?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Wales have just 17 fixtures before the next World Cup, in Australia in 2027, something not lost on Tandy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAny game\u2019s a great game for us.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-teams\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">TEAMS<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-wales\"><strong>Wales<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>15 Blair Murray, 14 Ellis Mee, 13 Joe Roberts, 12 Joe Hawkins, 11 Rio Dyer, 10 Dan Edwards, 9 Kieran Hardy, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Alex Mann, 6 Taine Plumtree, 5 Rhys Davies, 4 Ben Carter, 3 Keiron Assiratti,<br \/>2 Dewi Lake, 1 Gareth Thomas<\/p>\n<p>Replacements: 16 Brodie Coghlan, 17 Danny Southworth, 18 Christian Coleman, 19 James Ratti, 20 Morgan Morse, 21 Reuben Morgan-Williams, 22 Callum Sheedy, 23 Ben Thomas<\/p>\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-south-africa\"><strong>South Africa<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>TBA<\/p>\n<p><strong>Date:<\/strong>\u00a0Saturday, 29 November<br \/><strong>Venue<\/strong>: Principality Stadium, Cardiff<br \/><strong>Kick-off:<\/strong>\u00a017:10 (SA time)<br \/><strong>Referee<\/strong>: Luc Ramos (France)<br \/><strong>Assistant Referees<\/strong>: Matthew Carley (England), Pierre Brousset (France)<br \/><strong>TMO<\/strong>: Eric Gauzins (France)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n#Wales #pick #rookies #Springbok #Test #Cardiff<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Wales coach Steve Tandy insisted on Wednesday he had faith in the largely untested team he has selected to face&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":43107,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mzansi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43106","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43106"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43106\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43108,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43106\/revisions\/43108"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43107"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}