Wales fly in reinforcements ahead of daunting Springboks challenge

Hooker Elliot Dee and second-row Freddie Thomas have joined the Wales camp ahead of their clash with the world champions South Africa in Durban on Saturday in round three of the Nations Championship.

Dee has been called into the squad with captain Dewi Lake expected to miss the match after picking up a groin injury in the round two defeat to Argentina.

No players have left the squad, so there is no clarity as to whether a member of the second-row is currently an injury doubt or unavailable for the weekend, with Steve Tandy announcing his matchday squad later this week.

South Africa head coach Rassie Erasmus, meanwhile, has already named his side to take on Wales, with four debutants in the starting XV.

The Boks will be looking for their third straight bonus-point win of the Nations Championship following victories over England and Scotland.

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South Africa

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“This squad shows an exciting mix of youth and experience, and while we are under no illusions about the threat Wales poses, we are looking forward to seeing what these players can do,” Erasmus said.

“Wales put up a good fight in their Six Nations matches against Scotland and Ireland, and they defeated Italy in their final match of the tournament. They also beat Fiji in the Nations Championship before going down against Argentina in a competitive match last week, so they are on the rise and will come out with a point to prove this weekend.”

Springboks XV: 15 Aphelele Fassi (Toshiba); 14 Jaco Williams (Hollywoodbets Sharks), 13 Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles), 12 Damian de Allende (Wild Knights), 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse (Mitsubishi Dynaboars); 10 Vusi Moyo (Hollywoodbets Sharks), 9 Cobus Reinach (DHL Stormers); 1 Gerhard Steenekamp (Vodacom Bulls), 2 Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears), 3 Carlu Sadie (Bordeaux Bègles), 4 Cobus Wiese (Vodacom Bulls), 5 Ruben van Heerden (Montpellier), 6 Paul de Villiers (DHL Stormers), 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz, captain), 8 Jasper Wiese (Urayasu D-Rocks)
Replacements: 16 Andre-Hugo Venter (DHL Stormers), 17 Jan-Hendrik Wessels (Vodacom Bulls), 18 Wilco Louw (DHL Stormers), 19 Ben-Jason Dixon (DHL Stormers), 20 Marco van Staden (Vodacom Bulls), 21 Herschel Jantjies (Bayonne), 22 Manie Libbok (Kintetsu Liners), 23 Damian Willemse (DHL Stormers)