Wales forced into raft of changes for Springbok test
Rugby Union - Autumn Internationals - Wales v Argentina - Principality Stadium, Cardiff, Wales, Britain - November 9, 2025 Wales head coach Steve Tandy before the match Action Images via Reuters/Paul Childs
Wales coach Steve Tandy has made 14 changes to his 23-man team for the one-off test against world champions South Africa in Cardiff on Saturday, with both teams heavily depleted as the fixture falls outside the international window.
Tandy and his Springbok counterpart Rassie Erasmus have had to send a large number of players back to their clubs. Erasmus will name his team on Thursday.
Blair Murray keeps his place at fullback but has new wingers in Rio Dyer and Ellis Mee, while Joe Roberts partners Joe Hawkins in the centres.
Dan Edwards, who has been impressive this autumn, continues at flyhalf with Kieran Hardy coming in at scrumhalf.
Captain Dewi Lake is at hooker with props Gareth Thomas and Keiron Assiratti, and the locks are Ben Carter and Rhys Davies.
Taine Plumtree, whose father John coaches several of the Springbok players at the Durban-based Sharks, is in the back alongside Alex Mann and Aaron Wainwright.
"What we want to see from the boys is the same type of effort and performance as we did last weekend (a 52-26 loss to New Zealand)," Tandy said.
"I think we showed a lot of attacking intent, a lot of toughness in the way we went about lots of the defensive effort as well, to give the supporters something to shout about."
Wales team:
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, 2-Dewi Lake, 1-Gareth Thomas.
Replacements: 16-Brodie Coghlan, 17-Danny Southworth, 18-Chris Coleman, 19-James Ratti, 20-Morgan Morse, 21-Reuben Morgan-Williams, 22-Callum Sheedy, 23-Ben Thomas.
