Players to Watch: South Africa v Wales

South Africa and Wales will clash in America for the first time this weekend.

With both coaches having announced exciting squads with Rassie Erasmus handing out an unprecedented 7 debuts in the starting line up and further 6 on the bench, while Warren Gatland has named two uncapped players in his match 23 while also testing George North at outside centre.

We take a look at the Players you should keep an eye out for the clash in Washington DC.

Ross Moriarty (Wales)

The Wales loose forward missed the final two games of the Six Nations and will be looking to get back into the same form that saw him being named in the British and Irish Lions squad last year. Moriarty gets through a lot work on the field and will cause the Springboks a number of problems at the breakdown, lineout and on attack.

Ox Nche (South Africa) - On debut

It’s not often that a prop is mentioned as a real attacking threat, but then again Ox is far from your normal kind of prop. The Cheetahs loosehead has an incredible turn of pace for a big man and has seemingly become a solid scrummager over the last season - an improvement that ultimately led to his call-up. The 22-year-old has a bright future ahead of him with many tipping him to push Steven Kitshoff all the way as the Beast’s heir.

George North (Wales)

North will be donning the 13 jersey for the 4th time in his test career and will come up against an inform Jesse Kriel on Saturday. There is no denying North’s physicality is well matched to the Springboks traditional style of rugby. North will look back fondly on his previous encounters with Boks having scored a brace against the then World Champions on his debut in 2010.

Kwagga Smith (South Africa) - On debut

Kwagga Smith will be under the microscope on Saturday as the 7s star makes his first appearance in the test arena. Smith turned down the opportunity to represent the 7s side at the Commonwealth Games earlier this year in order to chase a test call-up. He put in a man of the match performance against the All Blacks last year for the Barbarians and will be hoping he can recreate some of that form against Wales. Expect Smith to display his wide range skills that earned him a call-up despite his compacted size in comparison to his test counterparts.