An under-fire Warren Gatland made five changes to his side to take on the Springboks in their Autumn international in Cardiff on Saturday, knowing it may be his last game in charge.
Gatland, who has been at the helm of a 11-match losing run, which included a 50-point loss at home to Australia last week, named possibly his strongest side for the Bok clash, with the latter looking to go through their November tour unbeaten after wins over Scotland and England.
The changes that Gatland made from the Wallaby horror show, included bringing back young Sam Costelow ahead of Gareth Anscombe at flyhalf, a return for winger Rio Dyer, with Blair Murray switching to fullback.
Christ Tshiunza comes in for the injured Adam Beard, the latter probably the biggest blow for Wales this week while Taine Plumtree - son of Sharks coach John - starts at No 8 instead of Aaron Wainwright.
🚨 𝗧î𝗺 𝗖𝘆𝗺𝗿𝘂 🏴
— Welsh Rugby Union 🏴 (@WelshRugbyUnion) November 20, 2024
Here is your Wales 2️⃣3️⃣ to take on @springboks in our final @autumnnations fixture this Saturday at @principalitysta, 17:40 KO! 🔥👇#AutumnNationsSeries | #WALvRSA
Gatland said that while some injuries forced changes, a lot of the changes were more for fresh legs than anything else.
"Blair has some experience," explained Gatland on Murray’s switch to fullback."We want to see how he goes. We’re really pleased with Tom Rogers and Rio has been training well."
“We just felt Aaron Warinwright has done well but with a six-day turnaround, we wanted to freshen up legs. It’s a chance to cap Freddie Thomas. It’s a chance for Rio Dyer to come into the side and push Blair Murray to fullback, where he’s played a lot of rugby. We want to make sure Sam Costelow got some rugby."
While the Boks named their side on Tuesday, with brothers Jordan and Jayden Hendrikse named at halfback and Cameron Hanekom on the bench to get his Bok debut, Wales will be hoping for a brave performance for an under-pressure coach.
TURN CRISIS AROUND
Gatland was peppered during his team announcement with a number of direct questions about his future, including whether he would be in charge after the Bok game.
Asked if he knew if he would be in charge for next year’s Six Nations, Gatland quipped: "It’s not something I’ve thought about. I’m focused on this week.
"If you start thinking about other things, it’s a distraction you don’t need. We’ve spoken this morning as a group in regards to improving the performance."
Gatland added that he had a strong desire to continue and believed that he could turn the crisis around.
I think we’ve been pretty clear with the plan," said Gatland.
"We’ve got a young group that needs time. We’ve worked as hard as we can. Decisions will be made outside of my control. We’ve asked for a bit of time."
Gatland was also asked if he would consider resigning if the Welsh lost to the Boks, to which he answered: “If I thought it was in the best interest, absolutely,"
BOK DEPTH IMPRESSIVE
The Welsh coach praised Bok coach Rassie Erasmus and said he was impressed with the incredible depth the Boks had built up.
We’ve chatted on a couple of occasions about the Lions tour," said Gatland.
"You’ve got to go past things that happened. We’ve had chats about that. I think with Rassie, you know what you get from a South African team with the physicality. They wear their hearts on their sleeve. We’ve got to make sure we’re up for that battle.
“With Welsh rugby, you know you’ll have peaks and troughs," explained Gatland after being asked about beating the Boks 10 years ago.
"Sometimes a limited talent pool takes time to develop. What’s impressed me about South Africa this year is there’s a real emphasis on developing depth. Rassie probably knows some players won’t be around for the next World Cup. I haven’t seen that from South Africa before. We’re aware of what will be thrown at us from a physical point of view."
Wales team to face South Africa: Blair Murray; Tom Rogers, Max Llewellyn, Ben Thomas, Rio Dyer; Sam Costelow, Ellis Bevan; Taine Plumtree, Jac Morgan, James Botham, Christ Tshiunza, Will Rowlands, Archie Griffin, Dewi Lake (captain), Gareth Thomas.
Replacements: Ryan Elias, Nicky Smith, Keiron Assiratti, Freddie Thomas, Tommy Reffell, Rhodri Williams, Eddie James, Josh Hathaway.