Wales backline duo named to start in Rugby World Cup warm-up against Springboks

Alex Cuthbert and Johnny Williams have been named in Wales’ starting line-up to take on South Africa at the Principality Stadium on Saturday.

The pair will make their first appearances of their country’s Rugby World Cup warm-up schedule in Cardiff this weekend.

Kieran Hardy also set to feature for the first time

Meanwhile, scrum-half Kieran Hardy is also in line to make his first appearance of the Summer Series after being a late withdrawal ahead of last Saturday’s clash against England at Twickenham.

In other news, Teddy Williams and Cai Evans, who have been named among the replacements for the clash with South Africa, are in line to win their first senior Wales caps.

Jac Morgan, who starts at openside flanker, will skipper the team for the second time after also leading his country in the 20-9 win over England in Cardiff on August 5. He is joined in the back-row by Dan Lydiate and Aaron Wainwright, who will pack down on the blindside flank and at number eight respectively.

Elsewhere in the forwards, Elliot Dee (hooker) will starts his first game this August and is joined in the front-row by Corey Domachowski and Keiron Assiratti, who will pack down at loosehead and tighthead prop respectively.

The forwards will be completed by Ben Carter and Will Rowlands, who will pair up in the second-row.

In the backline, Dan Biggar gets the nod as the starting fly-half after making two appearances off the replacements bench against England.

Mason Grady is set to make his first start this August, partnering Johnny Williams in Wales’ midfield while Liam Williams is named at full-back for the second consecutive match and Rio Dyer (left wing) completes the Wales starting line-up.

Amongst the replacements Tomos Williams and Max Llewellyn are alongside Evans as the backline cover. Sam Parry, Nicky Smith and Henry Thomas will be Wales’ front-row replacements with Taine Basham, who was not a confirmed concussion after completing all three stages of the head injury assessment (HIA) protocol, provides the back-row cover.

Wales head coach Warren Gatland is looking forward to the challenge of taking on the World Cup’s defending champions.

“Preparations have gone well. We’re really pleased with the whole squad. We’re trying to build some depth within the team and there’s been a great atmosphere,” he said. “In the first couple of games what was really pleasing for me was the physicality we brought and the way we defended.

“There are still things for us to work on in terms of being much more accurate. There’s been a lot of learning from that second England game and hopefully we put that into practice against South Africa.

“There’s another opportunity for this group of 23 players to put their hand up before we select the World Cup squad.

Preparing for confident and physical Boks

“We’re expecting confidence and physicality from South Africa. They don’t make a lot of mistakes. It’s a very experienced team for them.

“But we’ve got a great chance to go out there in front of a home crowd and produce some of the good things that we did in both the games against England. We just need to make sure we play for 80 minutes and are accurate for 80 minutes.”

Wales: 15 Liam Williams, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Mason Grady, 12 Johnny Williams, 11 Rio Dyer, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Kieran Hardy, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Jac Morgan (c), 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Will Rowlands, 4 Ben Carter, 3 Keiron Assiratti, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Corey Domachowski
Replacements: 16 Sam Parry, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Henry Thomas, 19 Teddy Williams, 20 Taine Basham, 21 Tomos Williams, 22 Max Llewellyn, 23 Cai Evans

Date: Saturday, August 19
Venue: Principality Stadium, Cardiff
Kick-off: 15:15 BST (14:15 GMT)
Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Assistant Referees: Chris Busby (Ireland), Eoghan Cross (Ireland)
TMO: Joy Neville (Ireland)

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