Skipper Dewi Lake insists under-strength Wales are raring to go against South Africa in a fixture that has provoked widespread bemusement throughout Welsh rugby.
Wales are without their 13 England and France-based players at Principality Stadium on Saturday because the game falls outside World Rugby’s official Test window.
The Welsh Rugby Union has been heavily criticised for arranging a fixture viewed as a money-making exercise and one that could do significant damage to the morale of Steve Tandy’s squad.
Wales showed green shoots in last weekend’s 52-26 defeat to New Zealand, breaching the All Blacks defence four times and being in the contest until the last 20 minutes.
But that work is at serious risk of being ripped up against the world champions, with Tandy having had to select a weakened side drawn from the four Welsh regions.
“It’s an opportunity to play for your country against the best team in the world,” Ospreys hooker Lake said at the captain’s run on Friday when it was suggested to him that this was a needless game.
“Look, a chance to come in the stadium and pull the jersey on. I’m never not going to be happy about that.
“I think everyone in the squad feels the same.”
South Africa have averaged 37 points and five tries per game from autumn victories over against Japan, France, Italy and Ireland.
The Springboks have lost the likes of world player of the year Malcolm Marx, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Handre Pollard and Cheslin Kolbe to club duty this weekend.
But Rassie Erasmus’ squad remains stacked with talent and the gulf between the two sides is reflected by South Africa having more caps on their bench (374) than Wales’ entire matchday squad (306).
Lake said: “They’ve built well over the last 10 years to get that depth back. There’s 300 caps on the bench for them.
“That’s the period we’re in in terms of rebuilding and looking forward.
“They’ve got incredible depth, but we’re excited for the challenge and we’re up for it.
“Physically we’re ready. We showed how physical we can be against New Zealand.
“I know it wore off for us in the end, but I don’t think there’s a question of physicality in this group. Or especially the mentality to go and be physical.”
Wales beat South Africa six times in 10 meetings between 2014 and 2022.
But the Springboks have won the last four and scored over 40 points on the last three occasions.
Lake said: “They’re a team I enjoy playing. They’re the best in the world for a reason.
“We know the threats they have, but also we know the threats we have.
“We’ve shown over this four-week period we’re a team who can score tries.”