South Africa have declared they plan bury Wales' second Test hopes in ‘The Graveyard’ on Saturday as they lashed out over claims of picking a weakened side.
Springboks assistant Mzwandile Stick riled at criticism of the hosts’ team selection, telling Wales to ‘speak to us after the match.'
Wayne Pivac’s side head into the second Test in Bloemfontein 1-0 down in the series after losing the opening match 32-29 in Pretoria. The hosts’ boss Jacques Nienaber has made 14 changes to his starting XV as he experiments with his wider squad ahead of next year’s World Cup.
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Rugby legend Gareth Edwards branded the number of changes ‘disrespectful’, though it must be added that the Wales players have insisted they remain wary of the challenge that lies in wait.
Regardless of the stance from the Wales camp, Stick fired back at critics of the selection.
“It’s disrespecting the Springboks emblem,” he said of the criticism. “If you have 42 players in our squad then they have all earned their stripes playing well for their clubs.
“Somewhere as coaches we have to give them opportunities and now we are in a good position being 1-0 up. We don’t have a B team.
“We have selected a strong team that will be able to perform [on Saturday] and have a good chance to win the game.”
The 23 that South Africa have named includes seven players who featured in the URC final for the Stormers and Bulls, including Evan Roos, who cleaned up at the end of season awards. There is also captain Handre Pollard, who recently won the Top 14 with Montpellier.
Stick went on: “The funny thing about people talking about our team being a B team is some of those players have played in the URC final and semi-finals. I don’t want to go to the Welsh side and say they had no teams in the play-offs, then all of a sudden they can judge and say these guys are a B team.
“These are proper players that have earned their stripes and deserve their opportunity. If they want to say it’s a B team, then they must come and speak to us after the game and the result will speak.”
Wales, meanwhile, have made just the one change to their starting side, with Alex Cuthbert coming in for Josh Adams. The tour has moved south east from Johannesburg to Bloemfontein, where the second Test will be played at Toyota Stadium.
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Another fiery atmosphere is expected at a venue that has been nicknamed ‘Die begraafplaas’, which is Afrikaans for ‘The Graveyard’.
Captain Handre Pollard said: “The graveyard. It’s tough. I remember playing my second Super Rugby game here and we lost. It’s just a tough place and the people are passionate.
“When the Springboks come here it’s a different feeling and the people are so hungry for rugby and definitely the supporters who want to get the Springboks in town.
“It’s an unbelievably special atmosphere and we are going to tap into that and try and channel that emotion in the right direction.”
When asked if the plan was to ‘bury’ Wales, he smiled: “Yes, that’s the plan.”
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