South Africa are in superb form but have again made loads of changes against an improving Welsh side. It should be a comfortable win for the Boks, but Wales can get within 41.5 points.
Key Stats - South Africa in Cruise Mode
- South Africa have won their last 5 matches against Wales.
- South Africa have won their last 11 matches.
- South Africa are double World Cup winners.
- South Africa scored 73 points in their last match against Wales.
- Wales have won 3 of their last 4 matches.
Springboks Miles ahead of Welsh
South Africa lead 5-0 in their last five games against Wales.
South Africa Dominant Over All
South Africa are in flying form, proving why they are double World Cup winners and favourites to make it three in a row next year. The Springboks have cruised through their opening two games, beating England 45-21 in round one without breaking much of a sweat.
Prior to England, the South Africans thrashed the Barbarians 80-31. Last week, against Scotland, after making 10 changes to their side, Rassie Erasmus’ side struggled to get going against a very good Scotland side.
Scotland put the Springboks under huge pressure for the first 60 odd minutes but in the end, the quality in the green and gold stood out, winning 42-28.
Wales Improving Fast
Wales have certainly improved this year; there is no question about that. They were competitive in the Six Nations, losing narrowly to Scotland and Ireland, and they defeated Italy.
That improvement has continued into the Nations Championship where Wales beat Fiji 39-24 in round one. They also beat the Barbarians 33-31 prior to that.
Last weekend, Wales lost 35-21 away to Argentina, which was another impressive performance despite the result. They will take heart from that, but against the Springboks, if they are not at their very best, things could get ugly.
South Africa vs Wales Teams
South Africa: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Jaco Williams, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Vusi Moyo, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Paul de Villiers, 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 Cobus Wiese, 3 Carlu Sadie, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp
Replacements: 16 Andre-Hugo Venter, 17 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 Ben-Jason Dixon, 20 Marco van Staden, 21 Herschel Jantjies, 22 Manie Libbok, 23 Damian Willemse
Wales: 15 Blair Murray, 14 Louis Rees-Zammit, 13 Max Llewellyn, 12 Ben Thomas, 11 Josh Adams, 10 Dan Edwards, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Jac Morgan, 6 Alex Mann, 5 Adam Beard, 4 Teddy Williams, 3 Dillon Lewis, 2 Dewi Lake (captain), 1 Rhys Carre.
Replacements: 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Ben Warren, 19 Freddie Thomas, 20 Tommy Reffell, 21 James Botham, 22 Reuben Morgan-Williams, 23 Joe Hawkins.