Wales senior men’s head coach Warren Gatland has named the Wales XV to face South Africa away at Twickenham Stadium in the Qatar Airways Cup on Saturday 22 June at 15:00 (SA Time)
Hooker Dewi Lake will captain the side for this match while scrum-half Ellis Bevan will make his senior international debut on Saturday becoming the 1,203rd men’s player to represent Wales.
Joining Lake in the front row are Gareth Thomas (loose-head prop) and Henry Thomas (tight-head prop).
Dragons’ duo Matthew Screech and Ben Carter are selected in the second row.
Taine Plumtree is named as blind-side flanker and will win his third cap having last featured for Wales against England at Twickenham Stadium in August 2023.
James Botham, who was called up to the squad on Monday, starts as open-side flanker. Jac Morgan has been released from the squad due to a hamstring injury suffered in Ospreys URC quarter-final defeat at Munster and will not take part in any of Wales’ fixtures this summer.
Aaron Wainwright completes the back row at No. 8 while Sam Costelow is at fly-half. Mason Grady and Owen Watkin pair up in the midfield.
Liam Williams, named on the wing, makes his first appearance for Wales since Rugby World Cup 2023. Rio Dyer is also on the other wing, with Cameron Winnett at full-back.
There are three possible debutants among the Wales replacements for this match.
Joining Eddie James and Jacob Beetham on the bench is the uncapped James Ratti (Ospreys) who was called up to the squad this morning. Able to cover second row and across the back row, Ratti – like James and Beetham – would win his first senior international cap if called on as a replacement this weekend.
Gareth Davies provides cover at scrum-half. Evan Lloyd, Kemsley Mathias, Keiron Assiratti and Mackenzie Martin are the other forwards named as replacements.
Gatland said: “We have our backs to the wall a little bit this week, but we’re really excited about the challenge on Saturday.
“Facing the world champions at Twickenham Stadium will be a great occasion and we’re relishing the opportunity to get out there and put in a performance.
“We have a big week ahead of us with this young squad, but the coaches and I have been very happy with the effort that’s going in.
“There’s a huge amount of potential in this group and the next five weeks will be extremely important for us in terms of wanting to develop this team.”
Wales: 15. Cameron Winnett, 14. Liam Williams, 13. Owen Watkin, 12. Mason Grady, 11. Rio Dyer, 10. Sam Costelow, 9. Ellis Bevan, 8. Aaron Wainwright, 7. James Botham, 6. Taine Plumtree, 5. Ben Carter, 4. Matthew Screech, 3. Henry Thomas, 2. Dewi Lake, 1. Gareth Thomas. Replacements: 16. Evan Lloyd, 17. Kemsley Mathias, 18. Keiron Assiratti, 19. James Ratti, 20. Mackenzie Martin, 21. Gareth Davies, 22. Eddie James, 23. Jacob Beetham.