Why are Wales playing South Africa this Saturday?

Autumn international: Wales v South Africa

Venue: Principality Stadium, Cardiff Date: Saturday, 29 November Kick-off: 15:10 GMT

Coverage: Commentary on BBC Sounds, BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru and live text on BBC Sport online.

Many people thought the autumn international programme finished last weekend.

It has been completed for most nations but not Wales and South Africa who will play one final game on Saturday at Cardiff's Principality Stadium.

It is a controversial match that has been organised by the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) outside World Rugby's designated window for international matches.

It has not proved popular with many fans but the WRU says it can benefit Welsh rugby on and off the field.

"I don't think anybody wants the game next weekend, players or supporters," former Wales fly-half James Hook told the Scrum V podcast.

"We are not going to win, are we? How are we going to call it off?"

BBC Sport outlines the reasons why the game has been arranged.

South Africa captain Siya Kolisi scored against Wales in Cardiff in November 2024

What is World Rugby's international window?

World Rugby has two designated three-week windows designed for global matches between international sides - one in July and the other in November.

This means players are released by their clubs for their national sides under World Rugby regulation nine.

The three weekends in the window for this month were November 8-9, 15-16 and 22-23.

National sides can organise fixtures outside of that period but clubs do not have to release their players for those matches.

Why do unions organise fixtures outside the window?

The main reason is money. The home nation pays the visiting team a large sum to play and then hopes it can recuperate the fee and also make a profit from ticket sales and hospitality.

That is especially important for Welsh rugby because an estimated 60% of the game's turnover is generated by hosting senior international men's matches at Principality Stadium and related commercial activity.

The WRU says it is a not-for-profit organisation and all the money it generates goes back into the Welsh game.

The origins of this particular fixture are understood to have been initially agreed in 2018 and organised for 2020 but that was postponed because of Covid.

In 2021, the match was rescheduled until this year with both sides continuing to honour it.

Despite the claims of financial benefits, the concept of a fourth international fixture has often been controversial with the WRU choosing not to have one in 2024.

It has staged the additional matches in previous years but always relied on significant crowds to help raise revenue and generate a profit.

When asked how much money the WRU is hoping to make from this particular fixture - and what fee is being paid to the Springboks to come to Cardiff - Welsh rugby's governing body refused to give financial figures, stating that was commercially sensitive.

Time will tell whether it generates the money expected to justify such a match.

How many people will watch the game in Cardiff?

That is hard to say at the moment. The WRU says it will not release the attendance until the day of the game, which is normal protocol, but insists it expects to meet targets for this match.

A WRU statement said: "We will have welcomed almost 250,000 supporters through the Principality Stadium turnstiles across the four consecutive weekends in November in Cardiff, when we host South Africa this weekend.

"We are grateful to the hundreds of thousands of fans who have shown their support for new head coach Steve Tandy and his team as they build for the future.

"We have received positive feedback about the greatly enhanced matchday experience in Cardiff this year.

"We look forward to another special occasion when we face the world champions and expect another bumper crowd to join us."

The crowd figure this weekend could be the major issue for Welsh rugby's governing body with this fixture yet to capture the imagination of the public.

There have been anecdotal stories on social media of slow sales for this game and even free tickets being given out for some matches this autumn.

Welsh fans might not be desperate to turn up and watch shadow sides or see a potential heavy defeat for the hosts.

The Springboks have also already played in London this month when they defeated Japan at Wembley at the beginning of November, so travelling South Africans might also not be willing to make the trip.

The double world champions visited Cardiff last season within the international window, easing to a 45-10 victory in a match which attracted a crowd of 67,236.

More than 68,000 turned up at the Principality Stadium to watch New Zealand defeat Wales 52-26 last weekend.

We wait to see how the crowd compares this Saturday.

Are any other nations playing next weekend?

No. Wales v South Africa is the only international game taking place next weekend.

England, Ireland and Scotland also chose to host matches outside the international window but they decided to play them on 1 November.

They faced Australia, New Zealand and the United States respectively, while South Africa also played Japan on the same weekend - notably with no clash with their respective leagues.

In contrast, Wales and the Springboks will be playing on the same weekend as a round of United Rugby Championship (URC) fixtures.

Dragons are hosting Leinster on Friday night, while on Saturday Cardiff and Ospreys face trips to play Zebre and Edinburgh, Scarlets entertain Glasgow.

The Welsh national side playing on the same weekend as the four professional sides has attracted criticism, especially with the regions being under-strength as Wales will be using the top players.

Ospreys are particularly hard hit with 12 players in the Wales squad. Nine of those are forwards while Wales captain Jac Morgan is also injured.

So Mark Jones' men are left facing a daunting trip to Scotland this weekend with a weakened side.

Which Welsh and South Africa players are unavailable?

The 13 Welsh players based in England and France initially named in Tandy's autumn squad are not available for Wales this weekend.

Lock Adam Beard is based in France, while there are 12 players who ply their trade in England with Rhys Carre, Olly Cracknell, Archie Griffin, Nicky Smith, Dafydd Jenkins, Freddie Thomas, Tomos Williams, Jarrod Evans, Louie Hennessey, Max Llewellyn, Nick Tompkins and Louis Rees-Zammit unavailable.

In contrast, Wales have a long-term deal with their own sides to release players for the national side, so Ospreys, Cardiff, Scarlets and Dragons names make up the 30-strong squad this weekend.

The Springboks will also have a limited selection because some of their players have returned to English, French and Japanese clubs, while head coach Rassie Erasmus has also released players back to South African sides for URC action.

South Africa will be without world player of the year Malcolm Marx, Thomas du Toit, Boan Venter, Lood de Jager, RG Snyman, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Grant Williams, Handre Pollard, Manie Libbok, Jesse Kriel, Cheslin Kolbe and Edwill van der Merwe, who have returned to their provincial unions and clubs.

What do the WRU and regions say?

The bosses from the four professional sides have declined to publicly comment so far on the scheduling of this game.

So it will be left to their head coaches to respond in this week's press conferences before the URC matches.

The WRU continues to back the benefits of a fourth international.

"From a performance perspective, challenging yourself against the very best sides in the world game boosts player and team development," a WRU statement said.

"From a business point of view the addition of a fourth international match in the series directly boosts resources available to invest directly back into rugby in Wales."

Saying that, there is no planned repeat next year.

Due to the new Nations Championships in 2026 there are no plans for matches outside the international window next November.

There will still be four games played but due to the nature of the new tournament they will be held inside the window.

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