Wales will face South Africa, the world champions, at Twickenham in June as part of preparations for their tour to Australia. The Principality Stadium in Cardiff is unavailable as Taylor Swift performs there on 18 June, with the Foo Fighters appearing there the following week.

The first match for the Springboks after winning the World Cup in France will be on June 22nd. After that, the Barbarians will play against Fiji. The last time Twickenham hosted a Wales versus South Africa game was during the 2015 World Cup, where the Springboks emerged victorious in a close quarter-final match with a score of 23-19.

Following their match against the Springboks, Wales has two upcoming Tests against Australia. They will face the Wallabies in Sydney on July 6th and then in Melbourne seven days thereafter.

If a Welsh team were to make it to the final of this season’s United Rugby Championship, the players would not be available for the Springboks game as they are scheduled for the same day. The Ospreys are currently the top-ranked Welsh team in seventh place, with the top eight out of 16 teams advancing to the playoffs. Cardiff, Scarlets, and Dragons are farther behind in the rankings. A similar scenario would occur for South Africa if they were to secure a spot in the URC final. The Bulls and Stormers are currently ranked second and sixth, respectively.

Warren Gatland, the head coach of Wales, expressed great enthusiasm for the upcoming summer fixture list. He sees it as a crucial opportunity for his young team to face the current world champions in a neutral setting, which they are eager to embrace.

“We are eagerly anticipating the two Tests we have scheduled in Australia for July. We are aware that the Wallabies may still be recovering from their early exit at the Rugby World Cup [where Australia was eliminated in the pool stage], but we are prepared for a motivated team under the leadership of new head coach Joe Schmidt.”

Source: theguardian.com