Gatland urges Wales to be 'mentally tough'

Men’s international friendly: South Africa v Wales

Venue: Twickenham Date: Saturday, 22 June Kick off: 14:00 BST

Coverage: Live on S4C, BBC iPlayer, BBC Radio Wales, Radio Cymru the BBC Sport website and app, plus live text commentary and followed by match report on the BBC Sport website and app.

Wales head coach Warren Gatland says his side can develop mental toughness by continuing to play top sides such as world champions South Africa.

Gatland has named an experimental side to play the Springboks at Twickenham on Saturday before a two-Test tour of Australia next month.

Wales go into the game following six successive Test defeats, five of which resulted in a first Six Nations wooden spoon in 20 years.

Gatland insisted Wales need to keep playing the best.

“We have our backs to the wall a little bit this week,” said Gatland.

"I don't see it any different to when I arrived in 2008 and was asked by Roger Lewis (Welsh Rugby Union chief executive) who do you want to play?"

"I said any time we can play a southern hemisphere team we need to jump at that chance.

"That is the way you improve. Not just in rugby but any sport by playing against the best. That is the biggest part of the development and players need to experience that.

"You try and replicate what you can do in training as best as you can, but you want them coming off the field, learning and enjoying it, but also wanting more."

New-look Wales named

Wales are missing flanker Jac Morgan who has been ruled out of the summer series with a hamstring injury, with fellow 2023 World Cup co-captain Dewi Lake leading them against the Springboks.

James Botham will wear the number seven shirt and line up in a back-row that also includes Taine Plumtree and Aaron Wainwright.

Cardiff scrum-half Ellis Bevan will make his Test debut, while Liam Williams makes a first Wales appearance since the 2023 World Cup after missing this season's Six Nations due to club commitments in Japan.

Wales are without their England-based players - the likes of Nick Tompkins, Dafydd Jenkins and Tommy Reffell - because the game falls outside World Rugby's summer Test window and means they cannot be considered for selection.

Wales have been badly hit at second row, with Six Nations skipper Jenkins and his Exeter colleague Christ Tshiunza unavailable, Will Rowlands rested and Adam Beard injured.

Matthew Screech and Ben Carter are the locks selected to start against the world champions.

Screech, 31, made his only previous Wales appearance as a replacement against Argentina in 2021, while Carter was last involved during the World Cup warm-up Tests almost a year ago.

Meanwhile there are three uncapped players on the bench: Ospreys forward James Ratti, Scarlets centre Eddie James and Cardiff back Jacob Beetham.

'Test rugby is tough'

Jessie Kriel scored one of the tries in South Africa's 52-16 win against Wales in Cardiff in August 2023

So an inexperienced Wales team taking on a South Africa side where lock Eben Etzebeth has more caps (119) than the entire Wales starting pack (118).

The Springboks might also be missing a few players, but will still have 10 World Cup winners in their match-day squad.

"It is part of the challenge," said Gatland.

"If you start doubting yourself you have to be able to overcome those sorts of challenges.

"Test match rugby is tough and physical, you have got to be able to handle adversity.

"It is probably not the politically correct thing at the moment in today's society, but you have to be mentally tough.

"You have to go through that pain sometimes and be able to come out the other side.

"There is nothing wrong with that. You have to be brave and overcome your fear factor.

"You are going out there and playing against big men, it's going to hurt and you have to go through some pain.

"There are going to be lots of different emotions and things to challenge yourself on, get through that and come out the other side."

Gatland believes some young Wales players have already benefitted from being exposed on the international stage.

"We have some individuals in the side who love that challenge and thrive on it like Dewi Lake and Dafydd Jenkins," said Gatland.

"They won't walk away from a challenge, they run towards it and see it as something they thrive on in terms of meeting it head on."

Gatland has spoken about Wales gaining some respect and hopes they can achieve that against the Springboks this weekend.

"We are not very experienced in terms of the number of caps and guys on the bench," said Gatland.

"There's a great opportunity for this team to go out and perform after we've been training and working hard."