The Springboks are coming to Cardiff on Saturday and with Wales having conceded over 50 points against both Argentina and New Zealand at home this month, there are many people ready to predict even harsher pain lies in store.
But head coach Tandy believes any attempt to retreat into their shells to try and limit damage against the world champions would be fatal - insisting the Springboks’ power game will “swallow you up” if confronted with timidity or fear.
The challenge facing Tandy and his patched together line-up could not be more stark.
In the past two years Wales have managed only two Test victories — both against Japan.
In the same period, South Africa have cemented themselves as the most formidable team on the planet, retaining their World Cup crown and rising back to No.1 in the world rankings.
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For a Welsh side in transition, and without 13 England- and France-based players due to World Rugby’s window rules, the scale of Saturday’s assignment in Cardiff is immense.
But Tandy insists: “We still want to play, because I think if you get ultra defensive, they'll just swallow you up anyway.
“It's giving our boys belief in what we're trying to do.”
That message — brave, proactive, disciplined but not scared — has become the theme of Wales’ week.
Tandy is clear as to what South Africa represent.
“It's power, you just see the depth, the physical stature,” he says.
“What you see is they've got a game, and they know exactly what that game is… you can see there's a pride in their identity of how to play, and that fits their physical attributes as well.”
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Even below strength themselves - with 12 of their players having flown home to play in the URC with their provincial teams - the Boks rarely need to reinvent themselves; they simply impose themselves.
It might have produced a negative backdrop for many fans, with so many absences on top of the chronic uncertainty elsewhere in Welsh rugby, but Tandy is refusing to go with that particular flow.
“In any walk of life, what are we going to focus on? Are we going to be downbeat on something?”
“It's an opportunity for these boys. I want to see the best in what we do, because I don't see how being negative is going to be helpful.”
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Wales came away from last week’s 52-26 New Zealand defeat with glimpses of progress, including stretches of attacking fluency that Tandy believes must be built upon, not abandoned.
“There’s incremental growth from the New Zealand game. A lot of good in that game that we can develop and build on.”
What Wales cannot do, he stresses, is try to shut the game down and hope for the best.
“They will come hard off the line… so it's how you find the space and adapt that to your attacking shape. We still want to play.
“We spent 10 minutes in our 22 defending on the weekend. The bravery and toughness was outstanding, but we wanted to do that less.”
If Wales are to challenge the world champions, they will need calm leadership.
Tandy highlighted Dan Edwards’ development at fly-half as one of the most encouraging threads of the autumn.
“He's been brilliant… he's got a demand about him, but also an understanding of the game,” Tandy says.
“For such a young man, playing some massive games… he's been outstanding.”
Competition among the No 10s, he says, is pushing all of them to raise their standards.
In the forwards, the selection of Rhys Davies looks noteworthy, given the Ospreys second row is one of the few whose power, frame and aggressive instincts could theoretically match up to some of the South African giants.
Davies could become an enforcing type of lock forward of the type Wales have lacked, if he can stay fit after an injury-plagued past couple of seasons for the 27-year-old.
“We do feel he has definitely got the physicality for the international game,” says Tandy.
"He’s had injuries, but I think that's where he's finding his way as a professional now and it's about learning how to manage your body throughout the weeks,.
"There's a bit of luck that goes with that as well. We’ve been speaking to a lot of the Ospreys, how he's been consistent with his training on and off the field, which makes a massive difference.
“It's going to be an awesome test of that physicality on the weekend.”
