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13 changes to latest Wales team; two new caps also named on bench
Warren Gatland has opted to make 13 changes to his Wales team for this Saturday’s Summer Nations Series match with the Springboks in Cardiff. The Welsh were beaten 17-19 last weekend in London by England, a fixture in which starters Dewi Lake and Taine Plumtree were lost to injury, and the coach has now decided to make sweeping changes for the final outing of his team’s three-game Rugby World Cup build-up.
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Full-back Liam Williams and blindside Dan Lydiate are the only two repeat starters from Twickenham in the latest Wales XV, a selection that contains two uncapped players in the replacements: Teddy Williams and Cai Evans.
The clash with the Springboks offers winger Alex Cuthbert, centre Johnny Williams and scrum-half Kieran Hardy their first appearances this month while Jac Morgan, who skippered Wales to their August 5 20-9 win over England in Cardiff, has been restored at openside and will captain the team.
An interesting inclusion on the bench is Taine Basham, who had a HIA after being on the receiving end last weekend of a controversial tackle by England’s Owen Farrell. A WRU statement clarified: “Taine Basham was not a confirmed concussion following completion of all three stages of the head injury assessment protocol.”
Gatland said: “Preparations have gone well. We are really pleased with the whole squad. We are trying to build some depth within the team and there has been a great atmosphere.
“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 has been a lot of learning from that second England game and hopefully we put that into practice against South Africa. There is another opportunity for this group of 23 players to put their hand up before we select the world cup squad.
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“We are 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 have 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 (vs Springboks, Saturday – 3:15pm)
15. Liam Williams (Kubota Spears – 85 caps)
14. Alex Cuthbert (Ospreys – 57 caps)
13. Mason Grady (Cardiff Rugby – 3 caps)
12. Johnny Williams (Scarlets – 5 caps)
11. Rio Dyer (Dragons – 8 caps)
10. Dan Biggar (Toulon – 109 caps)
9. Kieran Hardy (Scarlets – 17 caps)
1. Corey Domachowski (Cardiff Rugby – 1 cap)
2. Elliot Dee (Dragons – 42 caps
3. Keiron Assiratti (Cardiff Rugby – 1 cap)
4. Ben Carter (Dragons – 10 caps)
5. Will Rowlands (Dragons – 24 caps)
6. Dan Lydiate (Dragons – 70 caps)
7. Jac Morgan (Ospreys – 10 caps) captain
8. Aaron Wainwright (Dragons – 38 caps)
Replacements:
16. Sam Parry (Ospreys – 6 caps)
17. Nicky Smith (Ospreys – 43 caps)
18. Henry Thomas (Montpellier – 1 cap)
19. Teddy Williams (Cardiff Rugby – uncapped)
20. Taine Basham (Dragons – 12 caps)
21. Tomos Williams (Cardiff Rugby – 47 caps)
22. Max Llewellyn (Gloucester Rugby – 1 cap)
23. Cai Evans (Dragons – uncapped)
Comments on RugbyPass
“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
2 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
2 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
2 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
37 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
2 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
1 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
5 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
33 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
5 Go to comments