Like the Boks, Wales ‘are willing to go to dark places’: Evan Roos

Evan Roos says the Springboks expect a physical battle against Wales as the world champions kick off their 2024 international season at Twickenham on Saturday.

The Bok No 8 said the Welsh have a similar demeanour to South Africans in their approach to Test rugby.

Roos expects a hard grind against the Welsh, who will be determined to make a strong statement after winning only one of their five Six Nations games this season.

“They are a lot like South Africans. They are hard-working and humble people, so we expect them to give everything for the full 80 minutes.

 “Much like us, they are willing to go to dark places, so we expect a hard grind upfront.

“They are a physical pack, so I think it’s going to be a proper Test match this weekend.”

The Springboks wrapped up their preparations on home soil on Tuesday with their final training session in Pretoria and the touring squad of 30 players named by coach Rassie Erasmus departed for London on Wednesday night. The players excluded from the travelling squad will return home.

Roos, who last ran out in the green and gold in the Boks’ 24-13 Rugby World Cup warm-up win against Argentina in Buenos Aires in August last year, will earn his sixth Test cap against Wales.

“It’s awesome to be back in the team and everyone is excited about the match,” he said. “We want to build on what the team has done in the past six years, so there’s a huge responsibility on us to start this weekend with a bang.”

Roos will feature in an exciting loose trio with World Cup-winners Kwagga Smith and Bok captain Pieter-Steph du Toit.

“I’ll be playing with a bunch of World Cup-winners in the pack, which makes my job much easier,” Roos said.

“I’ve known these guys for about three years and it gets more comfortable each time I’m in camp.”

Roos said it was important to start 2024 on a strong note to set the tone for the rest of the season, which includes the incoming series, Rugby Championship and a challenging UK tour in November.

“It’s an important Test, so it will be vital to implement what we’ve been working on at training,” said Roos.

“Every team plays to win, so we’ll do our best this weekend and try to make it as easy as possible and special for the guys making their debuts.”

The four players on debut are Jordan Hendrikse (flyhalf), Edwill van der Merwe (wing) — who have been named in the starting line-up — Ben-Jason Dixon (utility forward) and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (utility back), who will feature on the replacements bench.