Wales without 15 top players for Bok game

Some of the UK media platforms are labelling Saturday’s match in Cardiff as a “nonsensical test” and you can understand the point when you see the team that Wales have assembled for the game against the world champion Springboks and who is missing.

The hero of last week’s 52-26 defeat to the All Blacks, and the use of the word hero in such a one-sided game aptly sums up how far Wales have fallen, was Tom Rogers, the wing who scored a hat-trick of tries.

He’s not there to face the Boks and neither of course is the suspended Josh Adams, who was red carded in the narrow Wales win over Eddie Jones’s Japan.

In addition to those two there are 13 other players unavailable because the game falls outside of the international window and Wales therefore cannot draw on players who play for overseas clubs.

There are 10 players who were in the 23 who faced the Kiwis last week, plus the injured Rogers, who were not available this week.

That list includes Louis Rees-Zammit (Bristol Bears), Max Llewellyn, Tomos Williams and Freddie Thomas (all Gloucester), Rhys Career and the experienced centre Nick Tompkins from Saracens, Archie Griffiths who plays for Bath, Daydd Jenkins (Exeter Chiefs), Jarrod Evans (Harlequins) and the France based Adam Beard.

In their absence Ellis Mee and Rio Dyer start on the wings for Rogers and Rees-Zammit, Joe Roberts replaces Llewellyn at outside centre and the other backline change is the call up to Kieran Hardy at scrumhalf in place of the British and Irish Lion Williams.

There is a new lock pairing in Ben Carter and Rhys Davies, while Gareth Thomas starts at loosehead prop.

On the positive side of the balance sheet for Wales No 8 Aaron Wainwright, who is a talismanic figure in the Wales team, is back in the starting team.

He brings 61 caps to the mix and his experience would have been missed last week.

BOKS ALSO DEPLETED

The returning looehead Thomas also has 43 test caps. And while the team is mostly a callow one, there is only one player in the team to face the Boks who hasn’t played for Wales before.

With Wainwright back in the mix Taine Plumtree of the Scarlets, son of Hollywoodbets Sharks head coach John Plumtree, switches from the back of the scrum to blindside flank in one of the other changes from the side that played the All Blacks.

Alex Mann played against the All Blacks as a blindside flank but will line up at openside in this game.

Loosehead prop, Danny Southworth, is lined up to make his debut from the bench.

In all there will only be 267 caps combined in the starting line-up with only three players who have more than 25 caps.

The Boks will be depleted because their overseas club players have had to return to their clubs, but if you add up the caps of just Eben Etzebeth and Siya Kolisi alone you come almost to the 267 caps of Wales.

The Boks have 25 players still on tour to choose from but South Africa does boast considerably more depth than Wales.

While Wales have been weakened so have their clubs who this week will miss their international players in the return to URC action, and it is obviously the same with the South African franchises, some of whom play crucial games this weekend.

For instance the Stormers are expected to be without Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Damian Willemse, Cobus Reinach, Zachary Porthen, Ben-Jason Dixon and Ntuthuko Mchunu for their crunch top of the log clash with Munster at Limerick’s Thormond Park.

Munster had most of their international players back earlier in the week.

Wales coach Steve Tandy was initially due to announce his team on Thursday, the same day as the Boks, but presumably changed his mind because he figured that he doesn’t have much to hide - everyone knows the overseas based players won’t be available for the game.

WALES TEAM: Blair Murray (Scarlets - 13 caps), Ellis Mee (Scarlets - 3 caps), Joe Roberts (Scarlets - 6 caps), Joe Hawkins (Scarlets - 6 caps), Rio Dyer (Dragons - 23 caps), Dan Edwards (Ospreys - 6 caps) Kieran Hardy (Ospreys - 43 caps), Aaron Wainwright (Dragons - 61 caps), Alex Mann (Cardiff - 10 caps), Taine Plumtree (Scarlets - 10 caps), Rhys Davies (Ospreys - 3 caps), Ben Carter (Dragons - 13 caps), Keiron Assitati (Cardiff - 18 caps), Dewi Lake (Ospreys 25 caps), Gareth Thomas (Ospreys - 43 caps).

Replacements: Brodie Coghlan (Dragons - 1 cap), Danny Southworth (Cardiff - uncapped), Christian Coleman (Dragons - 1 cap), James Ratti (Ospreys - 3 caps), Morgan Morse (Ospreys - 1 cap), Rueben Morgan-Williams (Ospreys - 1 cap), Callum Sheedy (Cardiff - 16 caps), Ben Thomas (Cardiff - 16 caps).