Wales Recalls Costelow, Implements Six Changes and Two Late Substitutions for South Africa Match

Sam Costelow’s inclusion in the Wales squad has varied throughout Warren Gatland’s second tenure as head coach. The Autumn Nations Series match between Wales and South Africa is scheduled for Saturday, 23 November, at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, with a kick-off time of 17:40 GMT. Coverage will be available live on S4C, BBC Radio Wales, Radio Cymru, and via live text and commentary on the BBC Sport website and app. Welsh fly-half Sam Costelow is set to start, and Blair Murray will transition to full-back, as Warren Gatland implements six personnel alterations for Saturday’s match against world champions South Africa in Cardiff. Costelow steps in for Gareth Anscombe, and Murray shifts from his wing position to full-back. Rio Dyer rejoins the team, while Cameron Winnett is no longer part of the squad. Among the forwards, Exeter lock Christ Tshiunza takes the place of the injured Adam Beard. Additionally, number eight Taine Plumtree has been recalled to replace Aaron Wainwright. Wales was compelled to make two additional late changes: wing Josh Hathaway and prop Nicky Smith will replace the injured Tom Rogers and Gareth Thomas, respectively. Gloucester lock Freddie Thomas is poised to earn his inaugural cap, starting from the replacements’ bench. This upcoming match marks the first occasion that New Zealand-born Murray will start a professional game in the full-back position. Murray joined the Scarlets at the commencement of the 2024-25 season, having previously made six starts on the wing. Gatland stated, “We felt Aaron has done well but with a six-day turnaround, we wanted to freshen up some legs, which we’ve done with Taine Plumtree.” He added, “It’s an opportunity for Rio Dyer to come into the side and push Blair Murray to full-back, where he’s played a lot of rugby.” Gatland further commented, “It’s not an unfamiliar position for him so we want to see how he goes there.” Regarding another player, Gatland remarked, “Gareth has had two starts at 10 and with Sam there, we want to make sure he continues to get rugby.” The 23 players selected for Wales’ matchday squad collectively possess 334 caps. In contrast, South Africa’s replacements alone have accumulated a total of 431 international appearances, and the Springboks’ entire matchday 23 boasts a combined 946 caps. South Africa is widely considered the strong favourite to defeat Wales, a team that has suffered losses in its last 11 Test matches. Following last weekend’s 52-20 defeat against Australia, speculation persists regarding Warren Gatland’s position as Wales head coach. Since his return for a second term as head coach in December 2022, Gatland has secured only six victories in 23 Tests. The current 11-match losing streak represents a new record for Wales. Gatland stated, “Last week’s result hurts and we are just as disappointed by it as the fans.” He continued, “Our focus now is on training and preparing well for our final game of this Autumn Nations Series.” Gatland added, “There were good elements that we can definitely build on going into Saturday but we have to improve our accuracy.” He concluded, “We know what a quality side South Africa are and the physicality they bring. This week we need to show real courage and front up against the world champions.” The starting lineup for Wales is: Murray; Hathaway, Llewellyn, B Thomas, Dyer; Costelow, Bevan; Smith, Lake (capt), Griffin, Rowlands, Tshiunza, Botham, Morgan, Plumtree. The replacements are: Elias, Mathias, Assiratti, F Thomas, Reffell, R Williams, James, Watkin.