Boks without former world player of the year Pieter-Steph du Toit for Wales series opener

Former world player of the year Pieter-Steph du Toit will miss South Africa’s Test series opener against Wales next Saturday as he continues his recovery from a shoulder injury.

But the 29-year-old flanker is on course to be fit ahead of next week’s second Test in Bloemfontein.

Springboks head coach Jacques Nienaber names his team on Tuesday to face Wales at Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria.

“We (the coaches) had an insightful discussion around the team and our selection will be based on what we would like to achieve in the first Test, so we will look at combinations that will give us that result,” Springboks assistant coach Deon Davids told www.sarugby.co.za.

“Pieter-Steph du Toit is completing his rehabilitation from a shoulder injury, and we expect him to be cleared for selection later in the week.”

‘Competitive’

Wales have lost all 10 Tests against the Springboks in South Africa, a sequence that began 58 years ago.

And they have arrived as clear outsiders for the Test series following a poor Guinness Six Nations campaign that ended with a home defeat against Italy.

But Davids added: “If you look at the Welsh side closely, they have players with a lot of Test caps, while some of them also played for the British and Irish Lions.

“They have also had a few weeks to prepare together as a group, and if you look back, the games we have played against them have been close, so we are expecting them to be prepared and to show up.

“Altitude is a factor for teams coming here, but they follow scientific approaches to games, so it will be tough.

“We believe they will be competitive enough to hang in there.”