Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
NZ NZ
Tomorrow
07:00
U20
Tomorrow
07:00
U20
Tomorrow
09:30
U20
Tomorrow
09:30
U20
Tomorrow
12:00
U20
Tomorrow
12:00
U20
Tomorrow
23:00
Friday
08:00
Friday
10:15
Saturday
02:05
Saturday
04:45
Saturday
06:30
Saturday
10:00
Saturday
14:00
Saturday
16:00
International

Warren Gatland makes new addition to Wales squad ahead of Springboks

By Josh Raisey
Wales James Botham in action during the Guinness Six Nations 2024 match between Wales and Scotland at Principality Stadium on February 3, 2024 in Cardiff, Wales. (Photo by Ian Cook - CameraSport via Getty Images)

Cardiff back row James Botham has been drafted into Warren Gatland’s Wales squad ahead of their encounter with world champions South Africa at Twickenham on Saturday.

ADVERTISEMENT

The 26-year-old’s addition takes the total number of players in the squad to 38, ten of which are now from Cardiff as Botham joins Corey Domachowski, Evan Lloyd, Keiron Assiratti, Mackenzie Martin, Ellis Bevan, Mason Grady, Ben Thomas, Jacob Beetham and Cam Winnett in the squad.

The squad will be reduced after the clash with Rassie Erasmus’ side to 34 players before they embark for Australia, where Wales will take on the Wallabies in two Tests and the Queensland Reds.

Video Spacer

Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus reveals the surprising large number of injuries

Video Spacer

Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus reveals the surprising large number of injuries

Botham started in Wales’ opening match of the Guinness Six Nations this year against Scotland, scoring a try at the Principality Stadium, but was ruled out for the rest of the Championship due to a knee injury.

The ten-cap international returned to action in April, and went on to feature in Cardiff’s last four fixtures of the United Rugby Championship season.

Fixture
Internationals
South Africa
41 - 13
Full-time
Wales
All Stats and Data

Updated Wales squad

Forwards: Corey Domachowski (Cardiff), Kemsley Mathias (Scarlets), Gareth Thomas (Ospreys), Elliot Dee (Dragons), Dewi Lake (Ospreys), Evan Lloyd (Cardiff), Sam Parry (Ospreys), Keiron Assiratti (Cardiff), Archie Griffin (Bath), Dillon Lewis (Harlequins) Harri O’Connor (Scarlets), Henry Thomas (Castres Olympique), Ben Carter (Dragons), Cory Hill (Secom Rugguts), Dafydd Jenkins (Exeter Chiefs), Matthew Screech (Dragons), Christ Tshiunza (Exeter Chiefs), Mackenzie Martin (Cardiff), Jac Morgan (Ospreys), Taine Plumtree (Scarlets), Tommy Reffell (Leicester Tigers), Aaron Wainwright (Dragons), James Botham (Cardiff).

Backs: Ellis Bevan (Cardiff), Gareth Davies (Scarlets), Kieran Hardy (Scarlets), Sam Costelow (Scarlets), Mason Grady (Cardiff), Eddie James (Scarlets). Ben Thomas (Cardiff), Nick Tompkins (Saracens), Owen Watkin (Ospreys), Rio Dyer (Dragons), Keelan Giles (Ospreys), Josh Hathaway (Gloucester), Liam Williams (Kubota Spears), Jacob Beetham (Cardiff), Cameron Winnett (Cardiff).

ADVERTISEMENT

Related

Uncapped brothers included as Wales name U20 Championship squad

The Welsh signed off on the recent Six Nations with a fifth place finish following home wins over Scotland and Italy and are now preparing for pool fixtures in Cape Town versus New Zealand, Spain and defending champions France.

Read Now
ADVERTISEMENT

Join free

LIVE

{{item.title}}

Trending on RugbyPass

1

Ireland and Springboks agree to trial new TMO protocol in Pretoria

2

Rugby league international played 'in front of a handful of people'

3

Stormers address Joseph Dweba situation as speculation mounts

4

Former Bok captain Victor Matfield launches personal tirade at Sam Warburton

5

Scott Hansen offers insight into All Blacks' starting halves combination

6

The kind words Faf de Klerk said to Wales debutant Ellis Bevan

7

Massive Andy Farrell decision asks three Ireland stars to put their legacies on the line

8

'That is not a memory I want to live back, I think we lost about 1000-nil didn't we?'

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

FEATURE

Liam Williams shows his enduring value to Wales as Wallabies lie in wait

He maybe a veteran at 33, but the well-travelled full-back is still a class act and provides Wales with all-important X-Factor

FEATURE

Massive Andy Farrell decision asks three Ireland stars to put their legacies on the line

Giants of Irish rugby must go to the well again as a monumental Test series against the Springboks looms.

FEATURE

Are the All Blacks playing the retention game and losing?

New Zealand rugby has seen at first a trickle but now a steady flow of talent going offshore to hurt them where it counts

Comments on RugbyPass

D
Dawid 1 hours ago
Former Bok captain Victor Matfield launches personal tirade at Sam Warburton

This is sensationalist paraphrasing from an official world rugby owned news site. You should be ashamed. The debate between Swys and Victor was pure quality ranging from picking players on form or for future and if its more important to win this game as Ireland is seen as the best team in the world by some pundits. And all you can take out of it is painting two great former players in a petty poor light. I hope Irish and Welsh fans see my comment as it was not as this “article” says it was.

57 Go to comments
T
Turlough 2 hours ago
Massive Andy Farrell decision asks three Ireland stars to put their legacies on the line

Not sure what Ryan Baird has to do to get the start for Ireland.

2 Go to comments
N
Nikola 2 hours ago
Toulouse player ratings vs Bordeaux | 2023/24 Top 14 final

After receiving his MOTM award, Dupont said that he made quite a few mistakes. We all saw that he did. But he deserves his 9/10 rating. No idea how Jack Willis is rated with just 8/10 though and I think giving Flament a 6/10 is very harsh, he played as good a game as most of his teammates.

5 Go to comments
T
Turlough 3 hours ago
Former Bok captain Victor Matfield launches personal tirade at Sam Warburton

Honestly, I am developing quite a dislike from playing the two SH ‘Giants’ when all you get is this level of toxic Donald Trump type commentary from their so called ‘Greats’. Ireland and Irish supporters just need to play these guys, hopefully beat them and then not have to interact until necessary again. Etsebeth, DeAllende, Kolbe and now Matfield at this childish sh1t. Do SA supporters actually enjoy this nonsense? Again, Rassie won’t be able to put a picture of Sam Warburton on the dressing room wall for motivation. His unpleasant ploy of trying to paint Ireland as arrogant has failed. Ireland are deathly quiet so you can only imagine it is quietly motivating them. Two weeks and then good riddance.

57 Go to comments
D
Derek Murray 4 hours ago
The problem areas Joe Schmidt must address for 'desperate' Wallabies

Nicely summarised, Brett. We should win but there are so many variables and so few guys who are experienced, strong test players in our 23, it’s highly likely we won’t. I’ve had a lazy £50 each on Wales and England at 5.60 as an emotional hedge and because I think those odds are ludicrous.

19 Go to comments
T
Tom 4 hours ago
'New Zealand are smart most of the time but they weren’t smart that day'

White orcs on steroids is really funny lol.

6 Go to comments
B
Barry 5 hours ago
Are the All Blacks playing the retention game and losing?

Rugby is their profession. Why wouldn’t they follow the money and better opportunities. Plenty do it in every other profession that pays you a salary. The ABs have been draining the Polynesian pool of talent for decades. It’s now just moving in cycles.

14 Go to comments
F
Francisco 5 hours ago
The problem areas Joe Schmidt must address for 'desperate' Wallabies

Hi Brett, you've given a very clear reading of AUS's on-court behaviour. During RWC2023, their final stint before the international tournament, they conceded penalties above their group average (48 vs 47) and in line with the RWC2023 average as a whole (48). I think the real problem with AUS' indiscipline was due to the instance in which penalties were conceded and the ease with which opponents were able to convert those concessions into points. Increasing the speed of the game, as Eddie Jones intended, required mental support to drive the game accurately and effectively. And that "mental composure" proved difficult to instil in a young team.

19 Go to comments
R
Rolando 5 hours ago
Are the All Blacks playing the retention game and losing?

Not sure I get the argument here. There’s many, many players that NZ has “poached” from elsewhere when they were already really good at rugby, offering scholarships to lure them into moving to NZ, qualify for them, and tie them, particularly from the Pacific Islands. Off the top of my head: Fekitoa, Naholo, Reece, Narawa, Sowakula, Sivivatu, Fakatava…

14 Go to comments
B
Bull Shark 6 hours ago
Massive Andy Farrell decision asks three Ireland stars to put their legacies on the line

With some of the players having a peak at long-term Bok ambitions in the back three (Roos, Phepsi, Hanekom, Louw etc etc) for the boks, the Boks might not have the best three in the world - but they certainly have the most consistently excellent back three who can slot in seamlessly. Exciting stuff.

2 Go to comments
M
Michele 6 hours ago
Bloodied but unbowed Dan Cole prepares for final hurrah

Love, love, love Dan Cole. I will be so sad when he retires…I guess I should join that fan club! Thanks for the article.

3 Go to comments
B
Bull Shark 6 hours ago
Ireland and Springboks agree to trial new TMO protocol in Pretoria

How many other tier one teams have this sort of capability (a former referee) and focus on training and development around the laws?

4 Go to comments
N
Neil 6 hours ago
Are the All Blacks playing the retention game and losing?

Doesn’t bode well for the future. Pretty shocked to read the NZR financial losses. I thought selling a percentage of equity was supposed to be a AB sovereign fund. By the looks of it, they’re burning through it pretty quick.

14 Go to comments
J
JD Kiwi 7 hours ago
The problem areas Joe Schmidt must address for 'desperate' Wallabies

Top article again Brett. They should beat Wales and Georgia but 38% overall might be tough to beat with this squad.

19 Go to comments
F
Flankly 7 hours ago
The problem areas Joe Schmidt must address for 'desperate' Wallabies

We saw what Wales have, against a rusty Bok team that was missing many first choice players. We have not seen what Australia have, but it’s easy to make educated guesses. Schmidt is a smart and meticulous planner with a focus on precision execution. His team do not have tons of experience, nor have they had the opportunity to groove their systems and game plan. But Australia always has athletic players, with a very competitive mindset. We should expect Australia to focus on doing the basics better than Wales, and layering on a keep-control attacking strategy that targets the Wales weaknesses. That probably translates into a “keep alive” approach, with a multi-phase running attack that creates mismatches, line-breaks and space out wide. If Wales bring what they brought at Twickenham then we should expect Australia to win convincingly.

19 Go to comments
J
JD Kiwi 7 hours ago
Are the All Blacks playing the retention game and losing?

Kiwi players move North because there's more money and/or it's easier to win test caps. It doesn't happen much the other way because we don't have more money and it isn't easier to get into the All Blacks. Not for the reasons stated in the article.

14 Go to comments
T
Turlough 7 hours ago
Former Bok captain Victor Matfield launches personal tirade at Sam Warburton

I see Erasmus’s troops have given up on the attempt to frame Ireland as arrogant. A picture of Sam Warburton on the wall in the Loftus Road dressing room might not have the desired effect. Ireland so so silent. Three days til the real talking starts.

57 Go to comments
N
Nickers 7 hours ago
'New Zealand are smart most of the time but they weren’t smart that day'

I remember watching this game and thinking afterwards that NZ will not win the World Cup.

6 Go to comments
M
Mzilikazi 7 hours ago
How Wayne Smith's fingertips are all over New Zealand's 'Razor' blueprint

Great piece, Nick. This is a really fascinating series. I will support the AB’s against England generally, but I really like this English side. They come into NZ on a rising plane….good RWC,and that after looking very poor in the warm up games. Then the defeat of Ireland. They looked very well organised against Japan, who tried hard with their LQ game, but were swamped in the end. With a new coaching team under Razor, and key players gone forever, or overseas, I really think the AB’s are vulnerable. They won’t replace Whitelock and Retallick to any significant extent this year, I suspect, and they certainly won’t replace Mo’unga either. I am not at all confident that Beauden Barrett will stand up well to this England team, at either 10, unlikely, or at 15, more likely. and he is now in his 34th year of life. Personally, I would not select him at all in the 23. Bottom line, I fear for the AB’s. A loss in the first game, and the knives will start to be unsheathed. Hoskin’s Sotutu’s omission will be a hot topic then, I would think.

61 Go to comments
J
Jon 8 hours ago
How Wayne Smith's fingertips are all over New Zealand's 'Razor' blueprint

Yeah Sotutu was good all year, those assists numbers are crazy. Certainly his workrate looks sus in that table, defensive work well off his teammate (despite both hitting same ruck %), could that be due in part to his lineout roll? Sotutu 40% dominant carry, committing extra tackles 62%. 78% ruck effectiveness on offence, 18% on D. Sititi 55% DC, 65%. 87%, 11. Ioane 35, 70. 80(much high volume that Sotutu with less minutes), 16. Earl 34, 60. 88, 24 (more technical league, easier?) Sotutu also had much high steals and turnovers than all (a fair amount more minutes too though, still higher % I’d say). Of course Sotutu was first chosen after a breakout season, so that he himself likely lost his spot to another with a breakout season doesn’t leave much room to complain. Thing they still might feel with him, is that he is probably the SRP forward equivalent of Shaun Stevenson. That lineout steal is more to do with what I had previously been saying about McMillan not giving Thompson enough prep and game time. He obviously just missread that call and threw it to the front jumper. Stern Verns style though is what we had all been crying out for Ian Foster to embrace in the All Blacks play. It was the only method in which that (2020-22) team could reliably hold the ball while gaining territory. Of course, he also shunned it. Went the other way and selected younger ball carriers and someone who could free up the backline, and we saw no more of Ardie or Samisoni eating up the easy meters. Still a missed trick I thought might return during the RWC. Hit the nail on the head with the setting for this one though, Nick! This is deja vu feeling for me.. there is something else this time as well though.. So often have we heard stories like these (from tourists/strting the year) but when it came down to it, the comparisons were always on different levels. The All Blacks are used to coming out of the blocks and blowing sides away. This very much has that feel. Then theres also the last 4 years that are there, somewhere, giving a feeling of imparting reality that makes you question if the past (history) you know was seen through rose tinted glasses. I really liked JDs begging in his last article, it hinted at it, with line like “we have never lost to Scotland”. Like really? We’ve come down to labelling our Scotland record as our ‘shinning light’ now? But we still have one! And, as I just read JDs French revolution series, this feeling goes all the way back to what, 94, when the French won both games(and then lost in atrocious conditions, again, or whatever in the following years RWC Semi-Final)? The explosive athletes have obviously gone too far one way, and I certainly hope there is a bit of subtlety to come our way soon. ALB doesn’t provide it at Int anymore, I certainly hope Havili is not asked to try his hand again at showing the way. Players like Poihipi, Plummer, Nanai-Seturo are just a call away. I miss my Smith’s and ageless Nonu in the backline. I certainly don’t want it continuing in that direction and players like AJ Lam being thought of in the midfield. Did you near choke when you heard Mils Muliaina (another in that above preferred category) say who he thought would be the playmakers?

61 Go to comments
FEATURE
FEATURE Massive Andy Farrell decision asks three Ireland stars to put their legacies on the line Massive Andy Farrell decision asks three Ireland stars to put their legacies on the line
Search