The Wales national rugby union team toured southern Africa in June 1998, playing test matches against Zimbabwe and South Africa, as well as tour matches against the Emerging Springboks and three of the South African provincial sides.
Wales head coach Kevin Bowring had resigned at the end of the 1998 Five Nations Championship, and with a replacement yet to be appointed, Dennis John was made caretaker coach ahead of the tour. Prior to the tour, 18 players from Wales made themselves unavailable to participate, while a further 8 picked up injuries during the tour.
Wales won their initial match against Zimbabwe in Harare, before moving on to the second leg of the tour in South Africa. Here they would play four tour matches against representative and provincial opposition and a test match against the Springboks. Wales lost all four of the tour matches, and then were defeated by South Africa in the test match. The final scoreline of 96–13 was the biggest defeat Wales had ever had, and remains so .
Squad Pending the appointment of a replacement for coach Kevin Bowring, who resigned after the 1998 Five Nations Championship, Wales named Pontypridd's Dennis John as their interim coach for the tour of southern Africa. With 16 regular squad members unavailable due to injury, among them fly-half Neil Jenkins and centre Scott Gibbs, they named a 30-man squad that included 10 uncapped players. A further seven players were injured during the tour, including captain Rob Howley; called up in their place were the likes of Ebbw Vale back rower Kingsley Jones – in what would turn out to be his final Wales call-up – and uncapped Llanelli fly-half Stephen Jones.
Name Position Club Notes Hooker Swansea Hooker Richmond Prop Richmond Prop Neath Prop Pontypridd Prop Neath Lock Swansea Lock Newport Lock Swansea Lock Bridgend Injury replacement for Mark Jones Lock Llanelli Back row Swansea Withdrew due to injury Back row Swansea Back row Ebbw Vale Injury replacement for Rob Appleyard Back row Ebbw Vale Withdrew due to injury Back row Pontypridd Injury replacement for Scott Quinnell Back row Richmond Withdrew due to injury Back row Swansea Injury replacement for Martyn Williams Back row Bath Back row Pontypridd Withdrew due to injury Scrum-half Cardiff Captain Scrum-half Pontypridd Scrum-half Ebbw Vale Injury cover for Rob Howley Fly-half Llanelli Injury replacement for Wayne Proctor Fly-half Ebbw Vale Fly-half Swansea Centre Cardiff Centre Neath Injury replacement for David Weatherley Centre Ebbw Vale Centre Swansea Wing Llanelli Wing Pontypridd Wing Llanelli Withdrew due to injury Wing Swansea Wing Ebbw Vale Full-back Swansea Withdrew due to injury Full-back Llanelli
Matches DateVenueHomeScoreAwaySource6 June 1998National Sports Stadium, Harare11–4912 June 1998Secunda Stadium, Secunda35–1316 June 1998Basil Kenyon Stadium, East LondonBorder Bulldogs24–819 June 1998Kings Park Stadium, DurbanNatal Sharks30–2323 June 1998Isak Steyl Stadium, VanderbijlparkGauteng Falcons39–3727 June 1998Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria96–13
Zimbabwe vs Wales
FB 15Victor OlongaRW 14G. CampbellOC 13John EwingIC 12Brendan FrenchLW 11R. Karimazondo FH 10Kennedy Tsimba SH 9 Ryan Bekker N8 8 Brendon Dawson (c)OF 7 Mordekai Mwerenga BF 6 Leon GreeffRL 5 Shaun LandmanLL 4 Brenton CatterallTP 3 Graham StewartHK 2 Wayne Barratt LP 1 Gary SnyderReplacements:FL C. McNab WG Dave Walters FB Doug Trivella SH Neill Nortje HK Ian Neilson Coach: Alex Nicholls FB 15David Weatherley RW 14Richard ReesOC 13Mark Taylor IC 12Dafydd JamesLW 11Wayne ProctorFH 10Arwel ThomasSH 9 Rob Howley (c) N8 8 Scott Quinnell OF 7 Martyn WilliamsBF 6 Nathan ThomasRL 5 Andy MooreLL 4 Mark Jones TP 3 John DaviesHK 2 Garin Jenkins LP 1 Darren MorrisReplacements:CE 16John Funnell FB 17Byron Hayward SH 18Paul John HK 19Barry Williams PR 20Mike GriffithsLK 21Chris Wyatt FL 22Colin Charvis Coach: Dennis John
Emerging Springboks vs Wales XV
Border Bulldogs vs Wales XV
Natal Sharks vs Wales XV
Gauteng Falcons vs Wales XV
South Africa vs Wales
FB 15Percy MontgomeryRW 14Stefan Terblanche OC 13André SnymanIC 12Pieter Muller LW 11Pieter RossouwFH 10Franco SmithSH 9 Joost van der Westhuizen N8 8 André VenterOF 7 Gary Teichmann (c) BF 6 Rassie ErasmusRL 5 Mark Andrews LL 4 Krynauw OttoTP 3 Adrian Garvey HK 2 James Dalton LP 1 Robbi KempsonReplacements:WG 16McNeil Hendricks CE 17Henry Honiball SH 18Werner Swanepoel N8 19Andrew Aitken FL 20Bobby Skinstad PR 21Ollie le Roux HK 22Naka Drotské Coach: Nick Mallett FB 15Byron Hayward RW 14Dafydd JamesOC 13Mark TaylorIC 12John Funnell LW 11Garan EvansFH 10Arwel ThomasSH 9 Paul John N8 8 Kingsley Jones (c) OF 7 Colin Charvis BF 6 Nathan ThomasRL 5 Andy MooreLL 4 Ian GoughTP 3 John Davies HK 2 Barry Williams LP 1 Mike GriffithsReplacements:FB 16Darril Williams FH 17Stephen Jones SH 18David Llewellyn FL 19Geraint Lewis LK 20Chris Wyatt PR 21Darren Morris HK 22Garin Jenkins Coach: Dennis John
References