Kieran Hardy identifies Bok who has ‘point to prove’ when Barbarians face Wales

Kieran Hardy feels Faf de Klerk “has something to prove” as he steps out of the Wales shadows for an Allianz Stadium duel with the two-time World Cup winner.

Hardy has the chance to impress against the Barbarians on Saturday, with the fixture falling outside World Rugby’s designated Test window and British and Irish Lions scrum-half Tomos Williams among the England and France-based players unavailable to Wales.

The 31-times capped Osprey lines up against De Klerk, who is back on the international stage just days after missing out on South Africa’s squad for the upcoming Nations Championship.

“I’ve played against him several times and he’s exactly what he looks like on TV,” Hardy said of the 34-year-old former Sale star, who has recently signed for the Bloemfontein-based Cheetahs after spending four years in Japan.

“He’s just energy everywhere he goes. It feels like he’s everywhere.

“I don’t know if the (blond) hair helps him a little bit with that! Maybe it gives him a bit of extra. But he’s obviously very experienced and the way he runs the game for South Africa, and has done over the last few years, he’s been a massive part of that.

“There’s some world-class players in their group, a lot of internationals. A lot of boys like Faf, who’ve missed out on essentially playing for the Springboks. So you feel like he’s got something to prove.”

The Barbarians contest – which sees the great George North end his illustrious career against the country he scored 47 tries in 121 Tests for – is a precursor to the inaugural Nations Championship, which starts next month and concludes in November.

Wales play Fiji at Cardiff City Stadium on July 4, which is officially an away fixture for Steve Tandy’s side, before travelling to Argentina and South Africa on successive weekends.

The tournament comes on the back of Wales ending their three-year wait for a Six Nations victory by beating Italy in Cardiff.

Hardy said: “Obviously, we’ve spoken a little bit about building and what we did in the Six Nations.

“As the competition went along, I think our performance has got better.

“We got a good victory against Italy in the end, but I think we want to build on that and keep improving over the summer.

“A couple of games before could have gone either way with some decisions, but the win was huge for the group, especially building into the World Cup.”