Head coach Jacques Nienaber has explained the thinking behind giving starting opportunities to Damian Willemse, Herschel Jantjies and Jesse Kriel in Saturday’s Test against Wales in Cardiff.
Willemse, Kriel and Jantjies will start against Wales as Nienaber made four changes to his match-day squad from the team that defeated the All Blacks.
“We selected this squad with an eye on maintaining consistency in selection from the Rugby Championship, but at the same time giving players who have been knocking on the door for a while now an opportunity to play,” said Nienaber.
“Damian and Herschel have featured off the bench a fair bit and this is a fantastic opportunity to give them a chance to start as we look to build our squad depth with an eye on the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
“Jesse has also been training hard; he is very experienced and he brings the physicality that will be necessary against Wales.
“We know what we have in Willie and Faf, and it is important to give Damian and Herschel game time to develop and measure themselves in starting roles.
“Wales are a quality outfit, and this will present an exciting opportunity for all of these players to make their mark in what is a very important Test to set the tone for this tour, and also in the lead-up to the Rugby World Cup.”
Nienaber expected Wales to pose a big threat, especially as the Six Nations champions will be playing with a near full-strength squad and given the fact that the Boks have not won in Cardiff since 2013.
“Wales are a tough side to beat and our track record over here in the last few years is evidence of that,” said Nienaber.
“We also edged them in the Rugby World Cup semi-final, so we know that this is going to be a hard grind of a Test.
“They may have lost against the All Blacks last week [54-16] but this result was in the absence of a number of key players, so this week will be a completely different proposition.
“They have a formidable pack of forwards and some equally experienced and high-calibre backline players, several of whom played for the British & Irish Lions, and to add to this they will play in cool and possibly wet conditions that they are well suited to, so we know what we are in for.
“That said, we had a good training camp in France last week and some of the overseas-based players were in action for their clubs, so the player are back in the swing of things focused and excited to get back on the field.”
