“We pulled this team together at short notice for last week’s Test and after they performed against Ireland, but we couldn’t ignore the experience of Frans Steyn,” said de Villiers.

De Villiers had welcomed the arrival Steyn into the squad on Sunday – from duty with his French club - and had no hesitation in getting him straight into action.

“He has only had two field training sessions with us to date so he is still slotting himself back in, but he has brought real enthusiasm to the squad and it’s a pleasure to have him back with us.”

De Villiers said he expected a fierce onslaught from Wales: “They have been bitterly disappointed on a couple of recent occasions when they felt they could have beaten us and they’ll be looking to put that right,” he said.

“They’ll be hurting after losing to the Wallabies at the weekend and I’m sure they’ve targeted us as the soft target in their three matches against the Vodacom Tri-Nations teams.

“We’ve had a tough year, but we’re only focusing on delivering another improved performance on Saturday and then the result should look after itself.”

South Africa v Wales

Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, November 13, 2010