Wales attack coach Stephen Jones rejects the suggestion his players have to overcome a significant mental barrier when they face the Springboks this weekend.
The question was put to the former fly-half in light of the Welsh regions’ tribulations in South Africa during the URC last season. Out of the eight games played by Welsh teams on South African soil, all of them ended in defeat, with abject performances resulting in an aggregate score of 351-106.
The ugly scoreline, though, lacks the context that Welsh internationals were absent for the majority of those games. Jones was quick to point out that the national side has, in recent years, fared much better.
Wales have won four out of the last six matches against the Springboks, losing the last two.
“No, not at all,” he refuted. “If you look at the last six games that South Africa and Wales have played, they have been incredibly close.
“The vast majority of our group were out here last summer for the Lions tour. They’ve experienced a lot of Test matches against South Africa.
“From our perspective, we’re very much looking forward to the test. We’ve got a wonderful group of players and it’s certainly been a long time since our last game against Italy and we’re champing at the bit because we’ve got a world class group here, who are very much looking forward to an intense Test match.”
An added challenge that Wales will have to overcome is a crowd. Saturday will be the first time fans have been allowed to watch the Springboks in person since they became world champions in 2019.
A lively crowd is expected to file into the iconic Loftus Versfeld and Jones was adopting a 'bring it on' mentality, hoping for a sell-out crowd.
He said: “Hopefully it will be a sell-out and that’s the reason why you play the game.
“That would be brilliant. It would be absolutely brilliant. From our perspective, we’re excited for the challenge ahead.
“As a player growing up, to play South Africa in an amazing venue, which will be sold out, you have to be excited because you know that it’ll be a real challenge, an intense game.
“But that’s the reason you play the game, to experience those environments, so it’s going to be very special for us."
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