Bashed-up Taine Basham will be on the bench for Wales this Saturday, but Owen Farrell could still be in trouble over his tackle. Dragons forward Basham is among the replacements for Wales against South Africa, when he might have been starting in a final trial to convince he is worthy of a place at the World Cup.

Wing Alex Cuthbert and centre Johnny Williams will make their first appearances of Wales’ World Cup warm-up schedule against South Africa on Saturday. Williams partners Mason Grady in midfield, while there are also starts for the likes of scrum-half Kieran Hardy and hooker Elliot Dee.

Dewi Lake will captain Wales for the first time on Saturday after an injury-hit 12 months plunged his Test career into cold storage. More than a year after his last Wales appearance against South Africa in Cape Town, the Ospreys hooker has a chance to display World Cup leadership credentials.

Jac Morgan and Sisilia Tuipulotu have been crowned winners again after picking up the Welsh Rugby Writers’ Association awards for 2023. Morgan – who led the Wales men’s team to an eye-catching victory over England last weekend – and Tuipulotu, a player-of-the-match winner in the Women’s Six Nations victory over Ireland and shortlisted for Player Of The Tournament, were presented with their awards on Monday night.

Jac Morgan passed his audition as Wales captain as his team responded with a hugely encouraging dress rehearsal for the World Cup. Head coach Warren Gatland has claimed he will use two different captains in the remaining warm-up games before the tournament, but Morgan has set a benchmark in the 20-9 victory over England that will be difficult to ignore.

Warren Gatland has compared his new Wales captain Jac Morgan to former skipper Sam Warburton, ahead of the World Cup warm-up clash against England. Gatland has turned to 23-year-old Morgan as the man to wear the armband at the Principality Stadium on Saturday and a positive leadership performance is likely to make him firm favourite to gain the job for the tournament in France.

Like Wales’ Gareth Anscombe, Danny Care has unfinished business with the World Cup but refuses to hold back during England’s warm-up games even if it means repeating one of his career’s most crushing disappointments. Japan-bound half-back Anscombe was injured in a warm-up match against England at Twickenham four years ago and missed the 2019 tournament.

Leigh Halfpenny will finally win his 100th cap for Wales against England on Saturday in a team captained by Jac Morgan. Three players are at the other end of the spectrum and will make their international debuts – Keiron Assiratti (tighthead prop), Corey Domachowski (loosehead prop) and Max Llewellyn (centre).

Wales will be without Taulupe Faletau and Alex Cuthbert, who are among five players from the Wales squad who will not travel for the team’s next training camp in Turkey between July 23-31.

The last time Wales were heading towards a World Cup, Jac Morgan had his attention elsewhere. That was in the summer of 2019, when Morgan was helping Wales beat New Zealand in the World Rugby U20 Championship in Argentina.

Warren Gatland is weighing up making Dewi Lake or Jac Morgan the Wales captain at the World Cup – or even both. The radical plan has been forced on the head coach due to diminishing options among the older guard who are dropping by the wayside weeks before the action starts in France.

Keiran Williams has admitted it could be an emotional Judgement Day for the Ospreys on Saturday as he and his teammates brace themselves for a number of departures. The centre will go up against fellow new Wales squad colleague Mason Grady as the Ospreys attempt to beat Cardiff with a bonus point to pip their great rivals to the Welsh Shield and a place in the Heineken Champions Cup next season.