Preview: Wales vs South Africa - prediction, team news, lineups

The Quilter Nations Series comes to a close on Saturday, November 29, when Wales entertain World Cup champions South Africa at the Principality Stadium.

The test falls outside World Rugby’s designated international window, but both teams will still want to end 2025 on a high and look ahead to the new year with positivity.

Match preview

Wales have been going through a rebuilding phase under head coach Steve Tandy, who is ideally looking to prepare his team for next year’s Six Nations.

The hosts put up a decent fight in their clash with the All Blacks last weekend, scoring four tries against a solid New Zealand outfit.

Home fans will hope for more of the same spirit when the Red Dragons aim to be the first Northern Hemisphere team to defeat South Africa in the autumn series.

However, the hosts’ record against Rugby Championship opposition has been rather poor, losing eight such games in a row, conceding at least 40 points in the last four matches and at least 50 in their previous two outings.

Tandy’s men have now scored a minimum of three tries in five consecutive tests, matching the total from their previous 15 matches, showing clear signs of improvement.

Facing the World Champions is a great place to evaluate the hosts’ progress, especially if they are looking to make serious waves next season.

The Springboks have enjoyed a successful 12 months; in fact, victory on Saturday would make 2025 their second-best calendar year, surpassing 1998 and 2024.

Rassie Erasmus continues to evolve his team, preparing for different types of opposition, resulting in a clean sweep in Europe this autumn.

It was impressive how South Africa beat France and Italy - spending much of those matches with 14 men - and then power-housing their way past Ireland in Dublin last week.

It is clear that the Springboks are top of the world for a reason, and winning 19 of their previous 20 tests in the North tells a compelling story.

The Rugby Championship holders are the only Tier One side to average more than five tries per game this year (5.5), while they have conceded the least at 2.2 tries per match.

The Green and Gold are currently on an eight-match winning run, which is why nobody in the rugby world is expecting anything but an away victory on Saturday.

Wales Quilter Nations Series form:

LWL

Wales form (all competitions):

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South Africa Quilter Nations Series form:

WWW

South Africa form (all competitions):

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Team News

Wales boss Tandy has had to make 12 changes to his squad and eight to his starting XV for various reasons, including injuries and also the fact that non-Welsh-based players have gone back to their respective clubs.

History-maker Tom Rogers, who was the first Welsh player to score a hat-trick of tries against the All Blacks in that test last week, sustained a hamstring injury and will not be available this weekend.

Louis Rees-Zammit must return to Bristol, which means Ellis Mee starts on the wing, while Rio Dyer also gets the nod in place of Rogers.

There is some good news for the hosts in that number eight Aaron Wainwright is back in the fold, after sitting out last weekend with a hip injury.

Springbok scrumhalf Cobus Reinach is set to earn his 50th international cap, after winning his first back in 2014.

Coach Erasmus is in the same boat as Tandy, as several of his players returned to their unions and franchises, meaning there are eight changes to the XV, while the bench takes on an entirely new look.

Crucially, for the visitors, Siya Kolisi, Ruan Nortje, Jasper Wiese, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Damian de Allende, Canan Moodie and Damian Willemse have been retained by the national team.

Wales starting lineup:

15 Blair Murray, 14 Ellis Mee, 13 Joe Roberts, 12 Joe Hawkins, 11 Rio Dyer, 10 Dan Edwards, 9 Kieran Hardy, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Alex Mann, 6 Taine Plumtree, 5 Rhys Davies, 4 Ben Carter, 3 Keiron Assiratti, 2 Dewi Lake (captain), 1 Gareth Thomas

Replacements:

16 Brodie Coghlan, 17 Danny Southworth, 18 Christian Coleman, 19 James Ratti, 20 Morgan Morse, 21 Reuben Morgan-Williams, 22 Callum Sheedy, 23 Ben Thomas

South Africa starting lineup:

15 Damian Willemse, 14 Ethan Hooker, 13 Damian de Allende, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Canan Moodie, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Morne van den Berg, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Franco Mostert, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp

Replacements:

16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Zachary Porthen, 18 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 19 Eben Etzebeth, 20 Marco van Staden, 21 Ben-Jason Dixon, 22 Kwagga Smith, 23 Cobus Reinach

Head To Head

These teams have met 43 times previously, with South Africa winning 35 of those tests, while the hosts registered seven victories, and there was one stalemate between them.

We say: Wales 17- 47 South Africa

With both teams being much-changed, there could be slight differences in play, but the World Champions are in great form and are more likely to end the year with a victory.

Preview: Wales vs South Africa - prediction, team news, lineups

Match preview

Team News

Head To Head

We say: Wales 17- 47 South Africa

Teams mentioned in this article :

South Africa

Wales