Aaron Wainwright: Wales hope number eight will be fit to face South Africa

Against the Springboks, Wales will be without 13 players who play club rugby in England and France.

The game has been organised by the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) outside of World Rugby’s international window, so non-Welsh based players are unavailable for the fixture.

The match is also on a weekend of United Rugby Championship (URC) games with the four professional sides all playing league fixtures.

Wales currently have 28 players remaining in the squad preparing for the visit of South Africa with Tandy weighing up introducing some new names.

“I think we’ll call up a few, we’ll have to assess around injuries,” said Tandy.

“They are world champions, so we might have to get a few reinforcements in.

“We’ll chat as a coaching group and with the medical staff. Touch wood, everyone has pulled through alright.”

Flanker Harri Deaves made his first Wales start against New Zealand, while fellow Ospreys back-rower Morgan Morse and Dragons hooker Brodie Coghlan also made Test debuts from the replacement bench.

Tandy pointed to the difference in experience of the two sides.

“The All Blacks had around 800 caps there, we had 300, with three new caps,” said Tandy.

“We’ve got to go through that period. Being 11th in the world, getting those boys the experience they need.

“Next week will be another chance to do that for other people.

“It’s just making sure we keep taking things out of games that can get us to where we want.”