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Depleted Wales mix it up for Springboks Test

By Peter Hanson
Hadleigh Parkes in action for Scarlets

Hadleigh Parkes will make his Wales debut as one of five changes for their final Test of the year against South Africa in Cardiff.

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The Scarlets centre will partner Scott Williams in the middle, while scrum-half Aled Davies replaces Rhys Webb at nine.

In the forwards, Kristian Dacey and Scott Andrews come into the front row, while Cory Hill is paired with captain Alun Wyn Jones at lock.

Head coach Warren Gatland said: “Saturday is an opportunity to continue to build on what we have done so far and round off the autumn campaign with a big performance.

“We have spoken about exposing the squad to Test match rugby and this weekend is a great opportunity for Hadleigh to earn his first cap and for Aled to make his first start of the campaign.

“We have had a couple of knocks from last weekend, with Ken [Owens], Leon [Brown] and Jake [Ball] unavailable but that just provides an opportunity for Kristian, Scott and Cory to start.”

Wales put up good performances in defeats to Australia and New Zealand either side of a 13-6 win over Georgia during their Autumn internationals thus far.

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Wales: Leigh Halfpenny, Hallam Amos, Scott Williams, Hadleigh Parkes, Steff Evans, Dan Biggar, Aled Davies; Rob Evans, Kristian Dacey, Scott Andrews, Cory Hill, Alun Wyn Jones, Aaron Shingler, Josh Navidi, Josh Navidi, Taulupe Faletau

Replacements: Elliot Dee, Wyn Jones, Rhodri Jones,Seb Davies, Dan Lydiate, Rhys Webb, Rhys Patchell, Owen Watkin

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Bull Shark 1 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

Of the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.

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