Lock Ruben van Heerden will make his Springbok debut against Wales on Saturday.
Whilst the Wales rugby team have hardly shot the lights out in recent years, a wary Springbok coaching staff will look at their relatively unimpressive historic record against the tourists — including three painful defeats during the Rassie Erasmus era — as a stern warning against complacency.
Wales enjoyed a dominant four-match winning streak against South Africa between November 2018 and November 2019. They then burgled a historic, first-ever victory on South African soil when they edged an experimental Springbok outfit 13-12 in Bloemfontein in 2022. That result meant Erasmus had lost three of his first four encounters against the Dragons as head coach.
The Welsh subsequently fell into a steep decline — enduring a miserable 18-match losing streak — whilst the Boks went on a contrasting, trophy-laden trajectory.
The double world champions have soundly beaten Wales in their last five meetings, including a brutal 73-0 rout last November. Yet, the Springboks have learned the hard way that taking their eye off the ball against Welsh opposition always carries a heavy price.
