South Africa head coach Jacques Nienaber says the Springboks expect a “hard grind” Test sequence opener towards Wales on Saturday.
Wales have arrived in South Africa on the again of a poor GuinnessSix Nations marketing campaign that ended with them shedding at dwelling to Italy.
Two of their three appointments with the Springboks are at altitude, beginning in Pretoria.
And Wales have misplaced all 10 earlier video games they’ve performed towards the reigning world champions on South African soil.
But Nienaber stated: “Wales have been training together for a few weeks now and we have no doubt that they will give everything against us on Saturday.
“They are an experienced squad and they have top-class players in their ranks, with some of them having represented the British and Irish Lions last year, so we are expecting a hard grind of a Test.
“They have physical forwards and backs that spark something from nothing, so we need to deliver a quality performance in order to get our season off to a strong start.”
Leicester quantity eight Jasper Wiese will begin for South Africa at Loftus Versfeld.
The Tigers ahead, who scored a strive when Leicester beat Gallagher Premiership last opponents Saracens on June 18, options in a strong Springboks facet skippered by Siya Kolisi.
Kolisi is amongst 9 gamers that began South Africa’s 23-18 victory over Wales in Cardiff final November.
The former Sale pair of scrum-half Faf de Klerk and lock Lood de Jager additionally begin, whereas Nienaber has opted for six forwards and simply two backs amongst his replacements.
“We have a talented group of players, and we believe the match-day squad we selected ticks the boxes in terms of what we would like to achieve in the opening Test against Wales,” Nienaber added.
“We have a plan for the season in terms of giving some of the young players a chance to show what they can do at international level, while at the same time taking stock of the seasoned campaigners and where they are in terms of their rugby.
“Unfortunately, with such a big squad there will always be a few unlucky players, but it is a fine balancing act to ensure we win Tests, build squad depth and transform as a team in the way we play.”
Source: www.impartial.co.uk