Wales v Springboks: Winners and losers as ‘shining light’ dropped in what could be Warren Gatland’s ‘final team’
Wales back rower Aaron Wainwright and an insert of head coach Warren Gatland.
Following the announcement of the Wales team to face the Springboks, we pick out our winners and losers from Warren Gatland’s selections.
Wales are currently on a record 11-Test match losing streak and now face the mighty task of ending that run against the world champions who have lost just twice this year – to Ireland and Argentina.
It is the second time this year that the two sides face off after the Springboks hammered Gatland’s charges 41-13 at Twickenham in June and have now won six of their last seven meetings with Wales and their last three by margins of at least 16. This is in stark contrast to the previous seven that were decided by fewer than 10 points.
Without further ado, here are our winners and losers from the Wales matchday 23 selected by Gatland.
Winners
Rio Dyer
Surprisingly omitted for each of the Autumn Nations Series matches this November, Rio Dyer finally returns to the matchday 23. The 24-year-old played every single one of Wales’ Six Nations matches earlier this year and both of their Tests against the Wallabies in Australia in July but was notably omitted for the defeats to Fiji and Australia.
The speedster will have the challenging task of keeping World Rugby Player of the Year nominee Cheslin Kolbe quiet on Saturday as the Bok heads into the match off the back of a brace against England last time out.
Sam Costelow
After starting all but one of Wales’ Six Nations matches earlier this year, Sam Costelow has featured mostly off the bench for Gatland’s side in July and November with the exception of the clash against the Boks.
He now gets a second crack at the best team in the world on Saturday after being used sparingly off the bench this Autumn outside of the erroneous appearance on the wing.
Costelow has all the tools to be a quality international fly-half and with his team on the ropes against South Africa, this weekend’s clash is an ideal time for him to prove that class.
Christ Tshiunza
Gatland has brought Exeter forward Christ Tshiunza into the starting XV following the injury to Adam Beard which has ruled him out of the fixture against the Boks.
Tshiunza has been knocking on the door for a start and is duly rewarded even if it is due to injury. He will go toe-to-toe with the excellent Boks Franco Mostert and Jean Kleyn but will be ably assisted by the classy Will Rowlands.
Josh Hathaway
The Gloucester flyer really impressed on his Test debut against the Wallabies earlier this year and Josh Hathaway finally earns his second cap albeit from the bench.
There is really little to cheer about in the Welsh squad at the moment but Hathaway’s raw talent, pace and ability makes him a promising prospect going forward.
Blair Murray
What a year it has been for 23-year-old New Zealand-born speedster Blair Murray. After joining the Scarlets at the beginning of the season, he has gone on to earn three back-to-back caps for Wales.
He got his Test career off to a dream start by scoring his first international try albeit in a losing effort but retained his starting role for the next match against Australia.
Now, he will be able to show off his versatility as he lines up at full-back for Gatland’s side against the Boks.
Props
Gareth Thomas and Archie Griffin deservedly retain their starting roles from last weekend after they turned the screws on the Wallabies’ pack. There were few positives to take away from Wales’ performance in defeat to Australia but one was mostly certainly the shift the pair put in at scrum time.
With the daunting task of fronting up against arguably two of the best scrummaging front rows in the world, the starting Bok props and the replacement ones, Thomas and Griffin will feel rather confident.
Freddie Thomas
Beard’s injury has also opened the door for Gloucester’s Freddie Thomas to earn his first cap for Wales. The second rower has impressed for his Premiership club this year and will now get the opportunity to replicate that form at the highest level.
It’s a real baptism of fire for the 23-year-old who is likely to enter proceedings once the Springboks have unloaded their bench with the world-class locking dou of Eben Etzebeth and RG Snyman.
Ben Thomas
Put frankly, Ben Thomas has endured a troublesome run of form this Autumn after flashes of brilliance in the Wales jersey during the July internationals. However, he gets another crack at turning things around with a third straight start in the number 12 jersey and does so against the underrated yet brilliant Damian de Allende lining up across from him.
Wales team v Springboks: Under pressure Gatland makes wholesale changes for make-or-break clash
Losers
Warren Gatland
Warren Gatland looked a defeated man after his team succumbed to the Wallabies last week and questions were asked about his future as the team’s head coach. Usually a hugely confident and defiant individual, it was rather telling how dejected he looked and it just doesn’t get any easier for him this week with the Springboks in Cardiff.
Gatland has named another youthful team which has been the case for most of this year with Nicky Smith (48) and Ryan Elias (43) being the only players with over 40 caps for Wales with Gareth Thomas and Will Rowlands (both 35) the only ones with over 30.
The head coach said that he ‘absolutely’ has the desire to continue on with Wales but also added that if he felt that it was in the best interest of the team, he would offer his resignation. Gatland has also called for more time with this young team but results is all that matters in international rugby and right now he isn’t getting them and it looks unlikely that it will change this weekend which frankly could be the final game that he is in charge of the team.
Adam Beard
Wales’ lineout fell apart when Adam Beard was forced off the pitch last weekend and they face the prospect of that occurring once again.
South Africa welcomed back one of the best lineout operators in the form of Franco Mostert and have paired him with the excellent Jean Kleyn who is renowned for his defensive lineout work, particularly with Munster.
His absence certainly makes life difficult for Wales and all eyes will now be on how Dewi Lake and his jumpers respond.
Gareth Anscombe
Gatland explained that with a six-day turnaround, the squad needed freshening up and Costelow also required some time in the saddle. This means that Gareth Anscombe does not get the opportunity to repeat his heroics against the Springboks from 2021 when he landed a clutch touchline conversion to hand the side their first win over the Boks in South Africa.
It’s a harsh call on the fly-half who can hardly be blamed for the lack of results this window.
Cameron Winnett
The Wallabies caused all kinds of issues for Cameron Winnett during the restarts of last week’s match and the full-back really struggled to ignite much on attack too.
While South Africa have improved their attack immensely this year, they are still heavily reliant on their excellent kicking game and simply put, Wales cannot afford those kind of errors again.
Gatland noted that they wanted to see how Murray goes at full-back and that the coaches felt that Dyer and Tom Rogers required some more game time which meant that Winnett was the odd one out.
Aaron Wainwright
Another whose dropping surely has little to do with his performances as Aaron Wainwright has been a shining light in a dark period of Welsh Rugby.
The back-rower makes way for Taine Plumtree in the number eight jumper this weekend in what must surely just be a tactic to freshen up the pack.