Wales have been handed a big injury boost for the upcoming game against the Springboks
Aaron Wainwright suffered an injury against Argentina(Image: Huw Evans Picture Agency Ltd)
Wales have been handed a significant boost after star backrower Aaron Wainwright was declared fit to face South Africa on Saturday.
Wales will be without 13 players for the clash against the world champions due to the game falling outside of World Rugby’s designated international window.
Wainwright was forced to pull out of last Saturday’s defeat to the All Blacks because of a hip injury.
But he has been declared fit to play in what will come as a relief for head coach Steve Tandy given the strength of the Springboks pack
“He’s back training this week so he’s in contention to play,” said Wales attack coach Matt Sherratt.
“I don’t think the pressure’s ever off in international rugby and you’re playing the world champions at home.
“We’re desperate to put a performance on the field and back the players we’ve got available to us.
“We saw some improvements in our transitional game and our kick and return game against the All Blacks – and this week against a team who are very good at it we’ll try to improve again.”
Wales have brought their team announcement forward by 24 hours but Sherratt insists there is no hidden agenda behind the decision.
“That’s probably more of a question for Steve than me,” said Sherratt.
“I don’t think there was a huge amount of background to it but when we knew it we wanted to get it out there as quickly as possible.
“So, there’s no hidden agendas or anything from my understanding of it.”
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