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Dragons' Fabulous Five To Face South Africa

26/11/2025

Five Dragons have been selected by Wales head coach Steve Tandy in the 23 to face South Africa on Saturday.

Ben Carter starts in the second row, with Aaron Wainwright at eight and Rio Dyer on the wing, while Brodie Coghlan and Chris Coleman will take on the bomb squad off the bench.

Coghlan and Coleman are joined by Cardiff’s Danny Southworth amongst the replacement with the prop set for his debut.

In the starting lineup, Gareth Thomas joins captain Dewi Lake and Keiron Assiratti in the front row, while Rhys Davies partners Carter at lock.

Taine Plumtree switches to six with Alex Mann at seven alongside Wainwright in the back row.

In the backs, Kieran Hardy partners Dan Edwards, meanwhile Joe Roberts joins namesake Joe Hawkins in the centre with fellow Scarlets Ellis Mee and Blair Murray alongside Dyer in the back three.

James Ratti, Morgan Morse, Reuben Morgan-Williams, Callum Sheedy and Ben Thomas are with Coghlan, Southworth and Coleman on the bench.

Tandy said: “What we want to see from the boys [on Saturday] is the same type of effort and performance as we did last weekend.”

“I think we showed a lot of attacking intent, a lot of toughness in the way we went about lots of the defensive effort as well, to give the supporters something to shout about.

“The fans on the weekend were electric. I think the boys really responded to how good the support was.

“When you see the charge, in and around when we score, but also when we're going deep into the defensive set, when they're chanting ‘Wales’, it's just something that's unbelievable and I'd like to thank them for all the support they've given the boys.”

Wales team v South Africa – Quilter Nations Series

Blair Murray (Scarlets – 13 caps); Ellis Mee (Scarlets – 3 caps), Joe Roberts (Scarlets – 6 caps), Joe Hawkins (Scarlets – 6 caps), Rio Dyer (Dragons / Dreigiau – 23 caps); Dan Edwards (Ospreys / Gweilch – 6 caps), Kieran Hardy (Ospreys | Gweilch – 27 caps); Gareth Thomas (Ospreys | Gweilch – 43 caps), Dewi Lake (Ospreys | Gweilch – 25 caps) captain | capten, Keiron Assiratti (Cardiff Rugby | Caerdydd – 18 caps), Ben Carter (Dragons / Dreigiau – 13 caps), Rhys Davies (Ospreys / Gweilch – 3 caps), Taine Plumtree (Scarlets – 10 caps), Alex Mann (Cardiff Rugby | Caerdydd – 10 caps), Aaron Wainwright (Dragons / Dreigiau – 61 caps).

Replacements

Brodie Coghlan (Dragons / Dreigiau – 1 cap), Danny Southworth (Cardiff Rugby / Caerdydd – uncapped / heb gap), Christian Coleman (Dragons / Dreigiau – 1 cap), James Ratti (Ospreys / Gweilch – 3 caps), Morgan Morse (Ospreys / Gweilch – 1 cap), Reuben Morgan-Williams (Ospreys / Gweilch – 1 cap), Callum Sheedy (Cardiff Rugby / Caerdydd – 16 caps), Ben Thomas (Cardiff Rugby / Caerdydd – 16 caps).

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