Wales Face Springboks Without History-Making Wing Tom Rogers

Scarlets wing Tom Rogers, who recently made history by becoming the first Welsh player to score a hat-trick against New Zealand, will unfortunately miss Wales’ final autumn international clash against world champions South Africa due to a hamstring injury. The highly anticipated match takes place at Principality Stadium in Cardiff on Saturday, 29 November, with kick-off scheduled for 15:10 GMT.

Rogers’ absence marks a significant blow for Wales, who are coming off a 52-26 defeat to New Zealand last weekend. Head coach Steve Tandy has responded with sweeping changes, naming 12 alterations to the matchday squad, eight of which affect the starting XV.

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Why Wales Are Facing South Africa This Saturday

The autumn fixture against the Springboks is particularly notable because it falls outside World Rugby’s official Test window, meaning Tandy could only select players from the four Welsh regions. Many of Wales’ top players, including thirteen squad members, have returned to their clubs in England and France. Despite these challenges, Wales are boosted by the return of Dragons number eight Aaron Wainwright, who missed the New Zealand match due to a hip injury.

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Key Squad Changes for the South Africa Clash

The Welsh squad for this match will feature a mix of experience and new talent. Some notable selections and changes include:

• Wings: The absence of Tom Rogers and Louis Rees-Zammit opens the door for Ellis Mee and Rio Dyer to start on the wings.
• Centers and Halfbacks: Joe Roberts and scrum-half Kieran Hardy replace Gloucester duo Max Llewellyn and Tomos Williams.
• Forwards: Gareth Thomas gets his first start of the autumn at loose-head prop, while a new second-row pairing features Ben Carter and Rhys Davies.
• Flankers and Back Row: With Wainwright returning, Alex Mann shifts to open-side flanker, Harri Deaves makes way, and Taine Plumtree moves to blind-side.

Notable Injuries:

• Ospreys lock James Fender misses the chance to win his first cap due to a shoulder injury.

Bench Players: Cardiff loose-head prop Danny Southworth could make his Test debut, joining club-mate Callum Sheedy on the bench. Other first-time autumn internationals include Chris Coleman (tight-head prop), James Ratti (lock), Reuben Morgan-Williams (scrum-half), and Sheedy.

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Experience and New Talent in Wales’ Squad

This match features six players earning their fourth caps of the autumn, including:

• Full-back Blair Murray
• Fly-half Dan Edwards
• Scrum-half Kieran Hardy
• Hooker and captain Dewi Lake
• Tight-head prop Keiron Assiratti
• Back-row forward Alex Mann

Ten players in the squad will experience their first action of the autumn series, highlighting the blend of youth and experience in Tandy’s plans.

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Steve Tandy’s Expectations

Speaking ahead of the fixture, Tandy emphasized the need for consistent effort and attacking intent:

“What we want to see from the boys is the same type of effort and performance as we did last weekend. I think we showed a lot of attacking intent, a lot of toughness in the way we went about lots of the defensive effort as well, to give the supporters something to shout about.”

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Predicted Wales Line-Up Against South Africa

Wales Starting XV:

• Full-back: Blair Murray
• Wings: Ellis Mee, Rio Dyer
• Centres: Joe Roberts, Hawkins
• Fly-half: Dan Edwards
• Scrum-half: Kieran Hardy
• Front Row: Gareth Thomas, Dewi Lake (captain), Keiron Assiratti
• Second Row: Ben Carter, Rhys Davies
• Back Row: Taine Plumtree, Alex Mann, Aaron Wainwright

Replacements: Coghlan, Danny Southworth, Chris Coleman, James Ratti, Morse, Reuben Morgan-Williams, Callum Sheedy, B Thomas