At the line-out their ball-winning looks sound and their driving-play is impressive – witness Dalton’s try last weekend

At the line-out their ball-winning looks sound and their driving-play is impressive – witness Dalton’s try last weekend.The back five looks reasonable with Mark Andrews regaining some of his old form and Gary Teichmann leading from the front, but the loss of Joost van der Westhuizen will weaken their defensive systems and make them slightly more predictable.In the midfield the main running threat is Henry Honiball – he is big, quick and very direct; a larger version of Mike Catt who tackles like a thunderclap. Outside him, Dick Muir is solid and dependable but lacks pace, while Andre Snyman has pace to burn but defensively can look somewhat awry having spent a good deal of his career on the wing.The back three like to run with the ball in hand and the selection of Percy Montgomery at full-back is interesting. This autumn we have witnessed the Toulouse front row dominate the Heineken European Cup campaign. In the northern hemisphere Califano and Tournaire are seen as top-class props but last Saturday they were bested by their South African counterparts. If ever an illustration was needed of the transient nature of sporting triumph then this would more than suffice. No longer is this the team of Pienaar, Christie, le Roux, Stransky, Joubert and Kruger. In common with England and Australia there have been wholesale changes on a massive scale.

It makes you wonder whether such a lack of continuity is part of the reason behind the inconsistency all three teams have shown in the past 18 months.
They have got through a few coaches in the meantime as well – the Markgraaff fiasco was swiftly followed by the sad demise of Carel du Plessis and the poisoned chalice has now passed to Nick Mallett.He has a great deal of European experience having played in England and France, which tends to mask the fact that very few of the playing squad have played at Twickenham before Nevertheless the Springboks have many strengths First and foremost their set scrum is extremely powerful. Indeed the turnover of players is nothing short of remarkable – of the side which thrashed France in Paris yesterday only five made the 1995 World Cup squad (28 strong), let alone the team. I don’t think they’d be too happy if I went off to play in England.”For the time being, England is home for Wales, but as far as Jones is concerned the glamour is undimmed. “The thrill of leading the team out as captain, especially against New Zealand, will be like winning my first cap all over again.

To do it at Wembley in front of a sell-out crowd is a truly exciting prospect.”A brave new world, no less.. And still they keep coming; the southern hordes receive their final reinforcements with this week’s arrival of the world champions, South Africa. But this team bear very little resemblance to the side who won the ultimate prize other than the fact that they wear the same famous green shirts. Ivor Jones, his great uncle, scaled a somewhat higher pinnacle as an open-side flanker, playing 14 seasons for Llanelli, 16 times for Wales and in five Tests for the Lions in 1930.Unlike Ivor, who left Llanelli in the early 1920s to work in Birmingham, Gwyn does not envisage joining the exodus to England. “Financially, Cardiff are better off than most Welsh clubs and I’m firmly rooted here My college are very understanding about giving me time off.