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A short-handed Wales side face up to the mighty Springboks in an enterprise that feels like an act of self-sabotage
Harry Latham-CoyleRugby CorrespondentFriday 28 November 2025 11:37 GMTComments
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There are some who would suggest that the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) has got precious little right over the last few years but the arranging of this weekend’s meeting with South Africa feels almost like an act of self-sabotage. The arrival of the Springboks would be daunting enough for a callow team that has beaten only Japan in the last two years were Steve Tandy working with a full hand; with the head coach unable to select those based outside of Wales due to this fixture falling outside of World Rugby’s stipulated Test window, this could be a very damaging day indeed.
To make matters worse, the return of the United Rugby Championship (URC) means that the four Welsh sides are in action, too – three of them on the same Saturday upon which the national team play. The unavailability of those based in England and France has required Tandy to further deplete the clubs. “The fact we've got five backs in the (Wales) squad, it's a bit like, 'I wish we had those five backs in our big game against Glasgow',” Dwayne Peel, head coach of the bottom-placed Scarlets, said. "But we knew this fixture was coming well before last week. That's it."
open image in galleryWales take on the mighty South Africans this weekend (Getty Images)Now, as with England’s out-of-window encounter with Australia, the arranging of this game was undoubtedly commercially driven, but even in that sense, it does not stand up to scrutiny. Ticket sales are understood to have been slow for Wales’s fourth game of a tough autumn, with an increasingly disillusioned rugby public perhaps quite unsure why they would attend a game that Wales have no chance, realistically, of winning.
Ahead of this fixture last year, we compared the challenge the hosts faced to that of David against Goliath; given the circumstances this time around, that perhaps feels to be underselling it. The Springboks have been victims of a rugby miracle before and a Welsh win here may require divine intervention.
open image in gallerySteve Tandy and Wales may need divine intervention (Nigel French/PA Wire)“In any walk of life, what are we going to focus on?" Tandy said this week, striking an optimistic tone. "Are we going to be downbeat on something?
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"It's an opportunity for these boys, and for us as coaches to coach against South Africa. We've got to find ways of how we build that as well, do things slightly differently. I can't see how we go into it and be negative. I don't believe in that anyway, I want to see the best in what we do."
It should be said, of course, that the Springboks are weakened, too, for a fixture that would seem to suit no-one. Among those to have returned to their clubs in Japan are Jesse Kriel, Cheslin Kolbe, Malcolm Marx and Pieter-Steph du Toit, leaving Rassie Erasmus with just 24 active players available and assistant coach Duane Vermeulen two injuries away from coming out of retirement. But such is the depth of Erasmus’s group that his selection still has a fearsome look to it as the world champions conclude a year in which they have separated themselves in a top tier all of their own. At times in Dublin last week, it almost felt as if South Africa were eschewing points to send a scrum-time message both to Ireland and beyond.
open image in gallerySpringboks assistant coach Duane Vermeulen has been training with a depleted squad (Getty Images)While there are a great many more strings now to the South African bow, the sheer size and stature of the matchday 23 chosen by Erasmus is staggering. The inclusion of seven forwards on the bench comes partly out of necessity given many backline options are unavailable but one fears, slightly, for a Welsh bench unit short on experience and stopping power. Even behind the scrum, there is an imposing look to the Springboks’ backline – evoking memories of Welsh units that included Mike Phillips, Jamie Roberts, Jonathan Davies, Alex Cuthbert and George North.
The task, then, is mighty for the Wales squad, at least highly familiar with the opposition from regular meetings in the URC. It was not long ago, mind, that Wales were competing with and beating South Africa – though the 2022 win under Wayne Pivac in Bloemfontein now feels a great aberration given all that has come since. These are again uncertain times for many players in the nation, with the looming cut of a region already providing challenges in recruitment and retention for next season.
open image in galleryRassie Erasmus’s South Africa are looking to complete an unbeaten autumn (Getty Images)There have been signs of optimism, though, in Tandy’s first autumn. The attacking shape instilled by Matt Sherratt during the Six Nations has shown promise again – four tries were scored against the All Blacks last week for only the second time in Welsh history – and even in shipping 52 points to both Argentina and New Zealand, admirable character has been shown. The suspicion is that the points tally the Springboks accrue may swell beyond that eventually but even Erasmus hopes to see some trademark Welsh fight.
“I don't understand what is going on in the Welsh set-up, I do not understand the politics, what works and what doesn't work," said Erasmus. "Whatever's wrong off the field, [Wales] have the guts, players and willpower.
open image in galleryWales showed plenty of fight against New Zealand (Getty Images)"I know deep in the belly of the Welsh, there is fight and somewhere it's going to come right. There's something about the Welsh people. There's not a lot of people here but if you go outside [in Wales], you see some things of South Africa. Not everybody is wealthy and living a fantastic life, but they grind things out."
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