Wales head coach Wayne Pivac has explained the reasons for his selections as he made wholesale changes to his side for the first summer Test against South Africa this weekend.
There are eight changes to the starting line-up from the side which lost to Italy at the end of the Six Nations, which includes a debut for Leicester's Tommy Reffell. Here's what Pivac had to say ahead of the opening Test in Pretoria:
Question: Tommy Reffell has had a great year but can you just outline why he’s got the nod?
Wayne Pivac: We’ve been watching him for a while. He’s been playing some really great rugby for Leicester Tigers so form is a big thing. He’s also been playing a lot of rugby recently and a lot of our squad haven’t so when we’ve looked at selection, we’ve factored in the amount some players have or haven’t had. We’re excited for him to get the opportunity. He’s trained well and I know he’s looking forward to it.
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Q: Will be a baptism of fire for him?
WP: Yes but he’s been playing in a pretty strong competition week in, week out and I think he’s proven himself over time at that level. Now we think it’s time to expose him and he’ll learn a lot, I’m sure.
Q: George North and Dan Lydiate are back for the first time in a long time – how important are they?
WP: We’re pleased to see them both back in the environment. They both bring a lot of leadership and experience, obviously. They have been missed. A year is a long time to be out but they’re both really, really excited and are bringing a lot of energy to training as you’d expect. They have a lot of rugby knowledge and we’re looking forward to getting them both out on the park. I’m sure they’re going to enjoy the occasion as well.
Q: Will Rowlands is back in and Alun Wyn Jones is on the bench – what's the thinking there?
WP: I think it’s just where Al has come from. I think he’s building back into it really, really nicely. He’s trained really, really well and you have to look at the South Africa side we are going to face. It’s a six-two split [on the bench] as we expected. They’re going to be coming at us over the 80 minutes. We’re going to have a lot of experience from our bench to finish the game. We’ve looked long and hard at who starts and who finishes the game. We think the balance on this occasion is the right one.
Q: Does Josh Navidi fall into that bracket as well, as he’s been a regular starter when fit?
WP: He has. We’re looking at the opposition and their strengths. The line-out is going to be a big part of the game, I think, and so Dan [Lydiate] gives us a little bit extra at the line-out. That’s probably what has tipped that selection.
Q: Is it now dawning on you what three Tests in South Africa is going to be like?
WP: I think everybody knows what we’re coming into. You’ve got this rich history and a lot is made of playing at altitude. For us, it’s exciting. We’re relishing the opportunity because we haven’t had a summer tour away as a group. We haven’t had that touring feeling and if the first week is anything to go by, the boys are really enjoying it. They’re enjoying being in a different climate.
It’s a massive challenge with the world champions in their own backyard and two Tests at altitude. It’s going to be a good test for us and it will show us exactly where we are. They’re going to expose some weaknesses, I’m sure, and it will give us a lot of things to work on moving forward.
Q: Wales will pay tribute to Phil Bennett on Saturday – how important is it that you mark a legend of the Welsh game with a performance?
WP: He has been a legend of the game, respected worldwide. Just very sad for his family and for all Welsh fans to see Phil pass, and we will be doing our best to put on a great performance in memory of Phil and the fans back home. There are a lot of emotional things that will be buzzing around, around kick-off time, but the main thing for us is that we get focused pretty early on and we make sure we start the game very, very well.
Q: Is Tomas Francis fully fit?
WP: He’s fully fit because he has been named in the match-day 23. He had a few days out of training, and we’ve looked at who starts and who finishes the game, and we’ve gone that way for this week.
Q: Is Wyn Jones fit or is that a selection call?
WP: It was a really interesting discussion. Wyn hasn’t played for a long, long time with that knee. He is getting back into some really solid training, so he has probably just been caught up a week short, really, but he will certainly be pushing hard for selection, going forward.
Q: Scrum-half has been a bit of a carousel of a position recently – what do you want to see from Kieran Hardy?
WP: Pretty much what he did against England in '21, and what he did off the bench against England. He needs to play in some big games and start with a World Cup around the corner. We all know what Tomos [Williams] can do. He is coming from an injury himself. In a week’s time, that selection may be different, we don’t know, we will wait and see how this game pans out, but certainly how well Tomos can play and we are expecting him to inject something from the bench.
Q: Louis Rees-Zammit was dropped in the Six Nations, he reacted well – why did he edge out Alex Cuthbert here?
WP: He is certainly looking in good shape, he has trained well. He’s probably in the best shape that he has come into camp, to be fair. He has worked hard.
Alex is probably a week short as well, from a niggle that he has had with his back. We want a fit squad going forward, and we want a lot of competition for places, and we are starting to get that.
It has been a very good training week. They are excited, they understand the challenge ahead of them. There are some disappointed boys, clearly, whenever you name a side, but they have all rallied around each other and are now pushing each other on for a big performance this weekend.
Q: Did seeing the South Africa side influence your selection?
WP: No, not at all. I think it was pretty close to what we would expect. A six-two split is not the first time it has happened. It’s quite normal.
It suits South Africa’s game. They are world champions, and are going with what they know, and what’s been successful, and why wouldn’t you? The challenge for us is being able to match what’s coming so we can put our own imprint on the game.
Q: How big of a difference will a fully fit George North make?
WP: I think George will get better and better as time goes on. It was a serious knee injury he’s had and it’s taken him a while to get back into the game. He’s had a few games under his belt at club level. He’s had a bit of a break and he’s back into it. I think for George, No. 13 is where we see him, and I would expect him to get stronger as the tour goes on.
Q: The 'Boks might be rusty – is the first Test an opportunity to knock them over?
WP: 100 percent. Our focus is on the first Test for a number of reasons. We can’t get ahead of ourselves and we’ve got a job to do over the course of the 80 minutes. Both teams have come together. We haven’t had a lot of rugby for a lot of our players because of the performances of our clubs in URC. They would have come together from an array of countries. For us it is probably a level playing field. Other times of the season, it may not be especially when we come together for our autumns. For us we are excited by the fact that it is pretty much a level playing field in terms of time together as a squad so it makes the first Test a vital one for both teams.
Q: South Africa are not absolutely at full strength with the likes of Pollard missing, Willie Le Roux on the bench – does that give you five more of a chance?
WP: They are obviously class players, and every side losing class players would hurt. What I would say is South Africa has a deep and rich pool of players. We’ve got a lot of respect for their entire squad so no matter what combination goes out from our point of view we’ve got a job to do and we have to make sure we are very good in the physical area of the game because we know no matter what names are on the team sheet we think we know what’s coming.
There’s a couple of guys missing from our side. At the end of the day we’ve got to focus totally on this first Test, on ourselves to make sure we get our game in order.
Q: In terms of how the Springboks play, did you take anything away from how the likes of Australia and the Lions in the third Test attacked them?
WP: Everybody does their homework and we are no different. We have looked at South Africa and know what we think is coming. We have looked at the last time that we played them when it was in wet conditions.
We are at altitude in the first Test, sea level in the last Test, we factor those things in and see how we have trained in the conditions that we have been in. Come Saturday, we have a game plan fit for this venue and this opposition.
Q: Some of the players were here with the Lions last year – how much motivation is there for them to go all the way this time?
WP: It is a different team with three other countries missing so it’s not really that relevant for me, personally. It’s about our group and how we can improve our performance from our last outing, which was a poor one.
It’s about the players coming together as a Welsh group. There is motivation for those that were on the Lions tour, clearly, they want to play well and know what is coming.
It’s great having that experience from some of the players to share but ultimately it is the XV that have to get it right and have to play well, particularly in that first 20 minutes. We have to make sure that we don’t let South Africa get away from us, we have to get ourselves into the game and get accustomed to the conditions.
Q: Are you cautious that the Springboks might take a slightly different approach?
WP: We prepare for what we think is coming but we have to be able to adapt. Whether that is a conversation on the park in the first five or 10 minutes of the game, we will see how South Africa come out and play with the personnel that they have got.
We have got to be ready for everything, we have got to be ready for them moving some ball. But no matter what they present us with, we have got to be defensively on our game, we have got to be disciplined and we’ve got to be very, very physical.
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