Wales v South Africa | Saturday 30 November | Principality Stadium | 17:10
It has been another bleak year for the Dragons who have only managed two wins and both came against Eddie Jones’ Japan. There is not much for the hosts to cling to as the Bok behemoth rolls into town even without a few of their headline stars. Their November Tests have offered little comfort after heavy defeats to Argentina by 28-52 and New Zealand by 26-52 followed by a narrow 24-23 escape against Japan.
The Boks in contrast have closed out 2025 with real authority. They smashed Japan 61-7 then backed it up with wins over France 17-32 Italy 14-32 and Ireland 13-24. They have had their disciplinary issues on tour with Lood de Jager sent off against France and Franco Mostert seeing red against Italy but they found favour last week when Matt Carley binned five Irish players which swung things in their favour in Dublin.
This weekend falls outside the Test window which means both sides lose key men. Wales have been hit hardest with Louis Reece Zammit Tomos Williams Dafydd Jenkins and Rhys Carre unavailable while hat trick hero Tom Rodgers misses out through injury. The one bright spot is the return of Aaron Wainwright who adds much needed experience to a side that has only six caps among the reserve forwards.
The Boks make backline changes with Damien de Allende shifting to 13 and Andre Esterhuizen slotting in at 12 while Ethan Hooker and Canan Moodie start out wide and Damien Willemse returns at fullback. Morne van den Berg and Sacha Feinberg Mngomezulu form a youthful half back pairing. In the pack Franco Mostert replaces Pieter Steph du Toit and Ruan Nortjie is the lone survivor from last week’s starting eight.
And then it gets worse for the Welsh front row as Rassie Erasmus rolls out a 7 1 split on the bench with Bongi Mbonambi Zachary Porthen Asenathi Ntlabakanye Eben Etzebeth Marco van Staden Ben Jason Dixon and Kwagga Smith all primed to add more muscle while Cobus Reinach covers the entire backline.
Verdict: South Africa
Even with a few stars missing this remains a terrifying Bok side. A cricket score in Cardiff feels very likely.