History-making wing Tom Rogers is out of Wales’ autumn finale against South Africa because of injury.
The Scarlets flier became the first British player to score a Test hat-trick against New Zealand last weekend, but misses the world champions’ visit to Cardiff on Saturday.
Head coach Steve Tandy has demanded his much-changed Wales team finish their year on a high, despite having to name a shadow side at Principality Stadium.
The fixture falls outside World Rugby’s official Test window and their 13 England and France-based players are unavailable.
Wales are without 10 players – including Bristol wing Louis Rees-Zammit and Gloucester’s British and Irish Lions scrum-half Tomos Williams – who were involved in last weekend’s 52-26 defeat by the All Blacks.
Head coach Tandy said: “What we want to see from the boys 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.
“We’re going into the last game, which we’re all excited about.”
Wales have had a miserable 2025, winning only two of their 10 games, both against Japan.
Tandy took over ahead of an autumn campaign that has so far brought defeats to Argentina and New Zealand and a last-gasp 24-23 victory over Japan.
Seven players remain from the line-up that started against the All Blacks, with Tandy’s selection options limited further by an injury to Ospreys second-row forward James Fender.
Dragons number eight Aaron Wainwright has been declared fit to provide valuable experience after being a late withdrawal from the planned XV to face New Zealand because of a hip injury.
Wainwright is the most capped player in the team with 61 appearances, his total making up the 183 in the pack.
There are just 84 caps in the back division with a starting place for Scarlets winger Ellis Mee, who was only called into the squad on Monday.
Mee’s fellow Scarlets Joe Roberts and Joe Hawkins combine on the international stage at centre for the first time.
Uncapped Barnstaple-born prop Danny Southworth, who joined Cardiff from Exeter in 2024, makes the bench.
Tandy said: “What’s impressed me about Danny, first of all, was his performances for Cardiff at the start of the year.
“Then coming into the campaign the way he’s adapted to the detail, the way he’s fitted into the group and brings an energy, but he’s also a quality player too.”
— Welsh Rugby Union (@WelshRugbyUnion) November 26, 2025
Wales team to play South Africa
Forwards: 1 Gareth Thomas (Ospreys), 2 Dewi Lake (Captain, Ospreys), 3 Keiron Assiratti (Cardiff Rugby), 4 Ben Carter (Dragons), 5 Rhys Davies (Ospreys), 6 Taine Plumtree (Scarlets), 7 Alex Mann (Cardiff Rugby), 8 Aaron Wainwright (Dragons)
Backs: 9 Kieran Hardy (Ospreys), 10 Dan Edwards (Ospreys), 11 Rio Dyer (Dragons), 12 Joe Hawkins (Scarlets), 13 Joe Roberts (Scarlets), 14 Ellis Mee (Scarlets), 15 Blair Murray (Scarlets)
Replacements: 16 Brodie Coghlan (Dragons), 17 Danny Southworth (Cardiff Rugby), 18 Christian Coleman (Dragons), 19 James Ratti (Ospreys), 20 Morgan Morse (Ospreys), 21 Reuben Morgan-Williams (Ospreys), 22 Callum Sheedy (Cardiff Rugby), 23 Ben Thomas (Cardiff Rugby)
* Denotes uncapped player