​Josh Adams believes Wales’ daunting Nations Championship fixture against South Africa will act as the litmus test for their progress under coach Steve Tandy. The Welsh squad have traveled to Durban for their final game of the 2025-26 season after a 35-21 defeat to Argentina in San Juan. Wales had started with wins over Italy in the Six Nations and Fiji in the Nations Championship opener, sandwiching a victory against the Barbarians in an uncapped fixture, before encountering a reality check against the Pumas. Now they face the toughest challenge yet when they meet the world champions at Kings Park on Saturday (16:40 BST).
“This is probably the hardest test we’ll face,” admitted winger Adams. “It’s certainly something that will test this group and it’ll probably answer a lot of questions about where we sit.” How will they react to the Argentina game? The physicality, the contact area, and the movement will all be magnified against a team like South Africa, so we have to be at the races. “We can talk about lots of areas of the game, but we’ve got to move quickly, hit hard, and stay in the fight. Those are the simple things we need to focus on this week.”
Argentina provided a reality check for Wales. Scotland fought back in a thrilling 10-try clash with South Africa, while Wales showed resilience to stay in contention against the Pumas, even chasing a couple of bonus points as time ran out. Yet Argentina emerged as convincing winners when responding to their opening-round loss to Scotland. “We were just slightly off in the physicality, the first-contact tackles, and speed around the ruck—the basics you need to be on top of at this level,” Adams said. “We managed to stay in the Test match, and it was back and forth until they pulled away with a couple of scores before half-time.” He added: “Argentina are a strong team when they stay on top of you, and if you’re not at it in the areas I’ve highlighted—and with your discipline—teams will punish you.”
Wales now face a South Africa side that opened the Nations Championship with wins over England and Scotland. The Springboks previously hammered Wales 73-0 at Principality Stadium in November, a game Wales played under the strain of the fixture being outside World Rugby’s window. Wayne Pivac’s Wales secured their first victory on South African soil in the second match of their 2022 three-Test series, with Adams scoring the decisive try. Four years on, merely being competitive in Durban would be considered a success.
The journey to South Africa keeps Wales on the road for a long trip, spanning more than 5,000 miles and crossing five time zones. Adams has downplayed the travel issue, pointing to the experience of Scotland, who made the same arduous journey and were competitive for most of the match before ultimately losing 42-28. “Every team has to travel,” Adams said. “Scotland made the journey, and they were in the Test for most of the game, so there’ll be no excuses.” He stressed that the squad must approach the trip with the right mindset and use the travel as a test of their resilience, conditioning, and mental fortitude as they prepare for what promises to be a high-stakes contest against one of the sport’s heavyweight teams.