Going into Wales’ game against South Africa you’d be forgiven for thinking they were limping into it with a long list of players and unavailable players.

Wales are without Six Nations captain Dafydd Jenkins and Christ Tshiunza who are both at Exeter, whilst Dillon Lewis, Archie Griffin, Nick Tompkins and Tommy Reffell are also unavailable as they are based in England.

Additionally, Will Rowlands, Alex Mann, Ryan Elias and Josh Adams have been rested for this summer whilst Jac Morgan is now set to miss the summer tour with a hamstring injury, Elliott Dee is also out along with Henry Thomas and Keelan Giles, while Adam Beard, Teddy Williams, Taulupe Faletau, Tomos Williams, Theo Cabango and Joe Roberts are also long-term injuries.

Sam Parry also stepped away from the squads amid claims he felt ‘disrespected’ by Warren Gatland.

Finally, Sportin Wales co-founder Gareth Anscombe announced he wouldn’t be taking part in the summer tour as he looks to return to fitness ahead of his pending move to Gloucester.

The Boks themselves are without several frontline players, Wales qualified Cameron Hanekom is set to appear for the Bulls in the URC final, along with Marco van Staden and Kurt-Lee Arendse. Bulls teammate Willie le Roux is injured as are fellow back threes Cheslin Kolbe, Damien Willemse and Canan Moodie as are forwards Steven Kitshoff, Jean Kleyn and Lood de Jager.

Despite all the players unavailable there are still some huge battles in play on Saturday, Sportin Wales take a closer look.

Dewi Lake v Malcolm Marx 

Lake returns from injury and is back as captain with Jenkins unavailable and Morgan injured. Marx has had his own injury problems, missing the majority of the World Cup with a knee injury.

Both are destructive ball carriers and brilliant ball in hand while Marx loves a turnover or two.

The two were pictured in an iconic photo when the two came face-to-face during Wales’ tour of South Africa in 2022.

The Ospreys hooker will be hoping he can nail his arrows in the lineout Dragons’ second row pairing Matthew Screech and Ben Carter taking on Eben Etzebeth and Franco Mostert. Speaking of which…

Matthew Screech v Eben Etzebeth 

Even considering Wales’ injury list at second row, Screech’s selection at second row raised more than a few eyebrows.

The Dragons man earnt his first cap against Argentina in 2021 but the now 31-year-old hadn’t earnt a second before this weekend.

Wales head coach Warren Gatland has heaped praise on Screech saying that he is in good shape and hopes he will do a good job in the set-piece, believing he still has room to grow.

Up against him is South Africa’s talismanic centurion Etzebeth who has arguably been the best player in his position for the best part of a decade. A tough test.

Taine Plumtree v Pieter-Steph du Toit

Plumtree’s third cap sees him take on former World Player of the Year du Toit.

Unfortunate to miss out on World Cup selection due to injury against England, Plumtree will be hoping to stake a claim for Wales’ blindside flanker position, with Mann rested.

Plumtree’s athleticism and lineout abilities offer something different to Mann but du Toit has all of the above and is a stern test for the Scarlet.

Originally thought of as a second row, du Toit is a strong lineout operator, combining speed with his height to be a threat in defensive lineouts. Expect to see him with ball-in-hand in the wide channels too.

Sam Costelow v  Jordan Hendrikse

Two young fly-halves go head-to-head at Twickenham. Gatland has shown faith in Costelow putting further weight behind his belief that the 23-year-old Scarlet is the man for the future at 10 for Wales.

Compared to Hendrikse, Costelow is the experienced head of the two with 12 caps while the Lions fly-half is on debut.

Hendrikse is on his way to Sharks, a consistent performer at 10 if not as flashy as Manie Libbok or as defensively solid as Handrè Pollard.

Mason Grady v Andre Esterhuizen

Grady’s first professional start at 12 sees him take on one of the world’s best.

Gatland will be hoping Grady can offer his side the go-forward they were lacking during the physicality, whilst using his offloading ability to good effect.

The Cardiff back won’t get the same amount of space he’s seen at Cardiff on the wing or at outside centre.

Esterhuizen is as big and physical a ball carrier as you’ll find and he’ll try to put the shackles on Grady in defence.

The question remains whether this will be Grady’s long-term position but he will certainly provide a contrasting option to the likes of Nick Tompkins and Ben Thomas.