Australia v England LIVE rugby: Result and reaction as England keep series alive with win

Out come Wales first, led by Dan Biggar, with Alun Wyn Jones enjoying the opportuntity to stride out a little slower at the rear of the Welsh 23. They gather in an extend huddle.

Two tens skippering this evening, of course - Handre Pollard glares towards the touchline as he and his teammates assemble themselves for the anthem. Winner of the Top 14 with Montpellier, Pollard’s time in camp has been reasonably brief, but he should steady the Springboks after a tough 40 minutes for Elton Jantjies last weekend.

The sun is setting on Toyota Stadium, with hardly an empty seat in the place. South Africa’s players have taken to calling Bloemfontein “the graveyard”, given how tough the task is for visiting players in the Free State.

“It’s such a tough place and the people are passionate,” said Pollard.

“When the Springboks come here, it’s a different feeling and the people are so hungry for rugby and supporters want to get us in town.

“It’s an unbelievably special atmosphere, we are going to tap into that and try and channel that emotion in the right direction.

“Bloemfontein is a special place, we want to keep it that way and make it a tough place for others to come here.”

There has been little suggestion that Wales will alter massively with a gameplan that worked effectively last week. Again, standing up to the physical challenge that South Africa pose will be key, but the Springboks were certainly rattled by Dan Biggar and his side last weekend. Wales might like to be create slightly more in attack - Esterhuizen, Handre Pollard and Jesse Kriel, who all play outside of South Africa, will have had limited prep time in combination, so there might just be spaces for Nick Tompkins and George North to exploit.

Adam Jones, the former Wales prop, has described South Africa’s selection as a “power play”, and certainly a Springboks win today would be a significant flexing of their depth. Jones is rather familiar with Andre Esterhuizen from coaching the centre at Harlequins, and rightly points out that any “B team” that can include a player of his ability will provide some threat.

His return to the Springboks midfield will be fascinating, having been stuck behind the outstanding partnership of Damian De Allende and Lukhanyo Am even after a couple of seasons tearing up great trees in southwest London. Evan Roos’ debut, too, should be lots of fun, as the dynamic, destructive number eight eyes a permanent place at the back of the South African scrum, while I’m looking forward to seeing a versatile, dynamic back three go.

More words, this time coming from Wayne Pivac, looking toasty in suit and red tie on a balmy Bloemfontein day.

“We certainly got a lot of confidence out of that first half in particular,” Pivac says to Sky Sports of his side’s performance last week. “We had a lot of control in that first 40 minutes, so we are going to try and replicate that this week.

“There’s still some big names in that [South Africa] side. There are players playing for positions in World Cups and next week. Any Springboks team you have to respect.”

Unsurprisingly, the comments of Edwards and others did not go down well in South Africa. Assistant coach Mzwandile Stick believes that the labelling of this changed side as a “B team” was a misconstrual.

“In all honesty, calling this team a B team is disrespecting the Springboks emblem,” added Stick.

“They talk about our team as if it’s a ‘B team’. We don’t have a B team.

“Some of those players played in the URC final and semi-finals. I don’t want to go to the Welsh side and say they have no teams in the play-offs and they can judge and say these guys are a B team.

“These are proper players that have earned their stripes and deserve their opportunity.

“If they want to say it’s a ‘B team’ they must come to speak with us after the game and the result will speak to that.

“If you have 42 players in our squad then they have all earned their stripes playing well for their clubs.

“Somewhere as coaches we have to give them opportunities and now we are in a good position.

“Our first goal is always to win and we are going to do everything in our power after the 80th minute to make sure that we are the team that win (on Saturday).

“When you are wearing a Springbok jersey you are not only representing yourself and your family, you are representing 58m South Africans.”

Right, a bit more on that South African selection. An early naming of the 23 by Jacques Nienaber allowed plenty of debate about the merits of changing so much of a 23 from first to second Test, a decision that the great Sir Gareth Edwards took umbrage with - however talented the Springboks coming in.

“If there had been five or six changes, you would maybe have raised an eyebrow. But 14 changes? It’s overwhelming,” said the former Wales and British and Irish Lions scrum-half.

“I don’t think it shows respect for Wales and, looking logically, there is only one way to view it and that’s to give them a good tonking, as they say.

“I suppose the only way they [South Africa] can justify it is if they win. I think it shows a little bit of disrespect.

“It doesn’t matter that it’s Wales. In these days, everyone is building towards World Cups so they have a different outlook.

“Yes, make changes but not that many. I’m a bit disappointed because I was looking forward to seeing Wales take on these guys again.”

In contrast to their opponents, Wales stick, Wayne Pivac making a single change to his starting side. It is, sort of, enforced, with some concerns that Josh Adams may not be at full sharpness necessitating the introduction of Alex Cuthbert to the starting side.

Tomas Francis has been sent home after his rather worrying head injury last week, so in comes Sam Wainwright, the Saracens tighthead who awaits a first cap.

Wales XV: Liam Williams; Louis Rees-Zammit, George North, Nick Tompkins, Alex Cuthbert; Dan Biggar, Kieran Hardy; Gareth Thomas, Ryan Elias, Dillon Lewis, Will Rowlands, Adam Beard, Dan Lydiate, Tommy Reffell, Taulupe Faletau.

Replacements: Dewi Lake, Wyn Jones, Sam Wainwright, Alun Wyn Jones, Josh Navidi, Tomos Williams, Gareth Anscombe, Josh Adams.

“I’m not a gambling man. We’ve got a plan from the start of the series with the 42 players we selected, and there is no better opportunity to give them a run. Wales are fighting to get back in the series and we are fighting to win the series.

“It will be nice to see Handre Pollard. He is the guy who has been with us for the least amount of time, so it will be interesting to see how goes.”

All change, please, all change. Only Eben Etzebeth missed the announcement from the conductor, with Jacques Nienaber sticking to a pre-series strategy to look at the depth of his squad in the Second Test, making 14 (fourteen) changes.

Enter, then, an exceptionally strong second string, headlined by the now available Pieter-Steph du Toit and Handre Pollard, who takes the captaincy, the returning Andre Esterhuizen and with a healthy smattering of new faces. Two debutants start: Evan Roos and Kurt-Lee Arendse are contrasting players, but performed equally impressively in the URC this year.

There are four more potential new-cappers on the bench (Ntuthuko Mchunu, Ruan Nortje, Deon Fourie and Grant Williams), which also includes last week’s match winner.

South Africa XV: Warrick Gelant; Kurt-Lee Arendse, Jesse Kriel, Andre Esterhuizen, Aphelele Fassi; Handre Pollard (capt), Jaden Hendrikse; Thomas du Toit, Joseph Dweba, Trevor Nyakane, Eben Etzebeth, Marvin Orie, Marcell Coetzee, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Evan Roos.

Replacements: Malcolm Marx, Ntuthuko Mchunu, Vincent Koch, Ruan Nortje, Rynhardt Elstadt, Deon Fourie, Grant Williams, Damian Willemse.