Gatland’s men in it to win

WALES assistant coach Rob Howley has both good and bad experiences against South Africa as a player, but mostly good.

He was injured on the successful British and Irish Lions tour of 1997 but was captain when Wales recorded their only victory against the Springboks to date.

The teams face off in the first of two Tests at King’s Park today.

While the Welsh have come close to upsetting the Springbok apple cart several times, Howley felt that on any day anything can happen.

He referred to the fact that the Welsh were written off in a game that marked the opening of the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, even though the ground was still partially under construction.

“When we beat South Africa in 1999, no one expected it,” Howley said.

“It has been disappointing to lose to the southern hemisphere sides and when you look back to results against South Africa since 2008, there have probably been one- to five-point gaps. That will probably be the same in the game.”

Howley was happy to confirm that big winger George North had recovered from his bout of gastro and will be available to start.

He said North, with his success and his try scoring ratio in Test matches, will be crucial to their cause, especially with their backline including Jamie Roberts and Jonathan Davies, experienced players who have often raised their game when they face the Springboks.

Whether they can break a mental barrier of beating southern hemisphere teams is another story for while they have shown an ability to compete, they have not been able to