Rugby World Cup Preview: South Africa v Wales

10 September 2011

The second "big match" of the Rugby World Cup will take place tomorrow morning (BST) and it will see reigning champions South Africa take on Wales whose World Cup record has been disappointing in past tournaments.

Who knows what this game will bring, it could very easily be the first upset and after England v Argentina earlier on today, we know that anything can happen. Click read more to view Scrum Five's full preview.
First I'll take a look at the team lineups. They have both got their strong points and maybe the odd weakness. Here is the Welsh squad:

Wales: James Hook; George North, Jon Davies, Jamie Roberts, Shane Williams; Rhys Priestland, Mike Phillips; Paul James, Huw Bennett, Adam Jones, Luke Charteris, Alun Wyn Jones, Dan Lydiate, Sam Warburton (C), Toby Faletau.

Replacements: Ryan Bevington, Lloyd Burns, Bradley Davies, Andy Powell, Tavis Knoyle, Scott Williams, Leigh Halfpenny.

The back line is strong and the ones to watch there are definitely Shane Williams and James Hook. Jamie Roberts is certainly one to watch as well but we know he is reliable and will certainly perform well. Sam Warburton will feel the pressure building as the match gets closer and is quite young to captain his nation. Charteris and Faletau will be also be interesting to watch. Andy Powell, Bradley Davis and Leigh Halfpenny provide strong backup on the bench in case of injury or Warren Gatland feels he needs to make a tactical change.

Here is the South African lineup:

South Africa: Frans Steyn; JP Pietersen, Jaque Fourie, Jean de Villiers, Bryan Habana; Morne Steyn, Fourie du Preez; Tendai Mtawarira, John Smit (C), Jannie du Plessis, Danie Rossouw, Victor Matfield, Heinrich Brussow, Schalk Burger, Pierre Spies.

Replacements: Bismarck du Plessis, Gurthro Steenkamp, CJ van der Linde, Johann Muller, Willem Alberts, Francois Hougaard, Butch James.

The South African back line looks formidable and with players like Jaque Fourie, De Villers, Habana and Morne Steyn it's clear there will be some fantastic play. Schalk Burger, Victor Matfield and John Smit match the back line for quality but the Springbok bench isn't as strong as the Welsh.