There are some who would suggest that the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) has got precious little right over the last few years but the arranging of this weekend’s meeting with South Africa feels almost like an act of self-sabotage. The arrival of the Springboks would be daunting enough for a callow team that has beaten only Japan in the last two years were Steve Tandy working with a full hand; with the head coach unable to select those based outside of Wales due to this fixture falling outside of World Rugby’s stipulated Test window, this could be a very damaging day indeed.
To make matters worse, the return of the United Rugby Championship (URC) means that the four Welsh sides are in action, too – three of them on the same Saturday upon which the national team play. The unavailability of those based in England and France has required Tandy to further deplete the clubs. “The fact we've got five backs in the (Wales) squad, it's a bit like, 'I wish we had those five backs in our big game against Glasgow',” Dwayne Peel, head coach of the bottom-placed Scarlets, said. "But we knew this fixture was coming well before last week. That's it."
