The Springboks are bracing themselves for a physical battle against a determined Wales outfit when the teams cross paths in Cardiff on Saturday in the opening match of the Castle Lager Outgoing Tour at the Principality Stadium.
Wales will enter the clash off the back of a 54-16 defeat against New Zealand at home last week, while the Springboks come off a 31-29 victory against the All Blacks in the Castle Lager Rugby Championship a month ago.
Springbok flank Kwagga Smith emphasised the need to build winning momentum with another two Tests lined up after this clash - against Scotland in Edinburgh and England in London respectively - before they return home, but they warned that Wales will be a tough side to beat.
Smith, who made his Springbok debut against Wales in Washington DC in 2018, said: “It would be big to lose their captain, but it may be something that could be treated, so perhaps he could still play. That said, they have several quality leaders in the squad that can fulfil that role.”
Smith was delighted to be back on the field and in the squad for the Castle Lager Outgoing Tour and said: “It was good to be home with our families for two weeks, and our training camp in France was also great to get back into game mode and training after the time off.
“We had a few off-field activities as well with an eye on the 2023 Rugby World Cup, but it was good to get back into the swing of things.”
The energetic flanker said while there would always be emotions in a Test match, there were no links between these Tests and winning the series against British & Irish Lions for the visitors.
“The Castle Lager Lions Series is in the past for us,” said Smith.
“This is a different tour, and we’ll be playing in different conditions, so our focus is on taking things week by week and game by game.”
