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Wales Online
Wales Online
Sport
Matthew Southcombe

Wales v South Africa camp: Who's arrived, who's still missing and injury latest as Pivac's stars prepare to take on world champions

Wales have begun ramping up their preparations ahead of this summer's tour of South Africa.

Wayne Pivac's men assembled at the Vale Resort on Monday for the beginning of their full training camp ahead of the trip, though the head coach is still working with limited numbers.

There are 28 Wales-based players in the 33 man squad that will get on the plane next week and none of them have seen any action since the regular season ended on May 21, owing the regions missing out on the knockout stages of the URC and failing to get beyond the last 16 in European competitions.

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Those 28 players have been punching in for 'mini-camps' - two or three days of training per week - since June 1. It has been largely conditioning work to get the players back up to speed after a few weeks off. Players were not required to stay at the team hotel during that time.

But from Monday, the more traditional pre-series camp began in earnest. Players are now based at the team hotel on the outskirts of Cardiff, where intensity levels are rising and more on-pitch rugby work being introduced as they prepare for Test match rugby against the world champions.

Wales' five England-based players will arrive in camp this coming Monday, four days before the squad travel to South Africa, regardless of when their respective seasons finished.

Louis Rees-Zammit's Gloucester didn't make the Gallagher Premiership play-offs, so he has not played since June 4. Dan Biggar's Northampton were knocked out in last week's semi-final against Leicester.

Captain Biggar was forced off prematurely in the match with a back problem, though he hopes to be fit to link up with Wales next week.

"I am hoping I will be all right," he said after the match.

"As I have gone for a bit of a charge down, I have just tweaked my back a little bit and got a bit of a shooting pain.

"It will probably be a stiff for a few days. It was just one that kept stiffening up and could not really move that well after it."

Meanwhile, Tommy Reffell will be playing for the Tigers in this weekend's Premiership final, with Sam Wainwright and Nick Tompkins among Saracens' ranks.

A number of players ended the season with injury concerns - namely Josh Adams, Rhys Patchell and Will Rowlands - but all have been retained in the squad and there are believed to be no fitness worries at present. Indeed images have emerged of Adams doing contact work.

The star winger's season ended when he sustained a knee injury in Cardiff's defeat to Scarlets on April 2. Rowlands, meanwhile, finished the season battling nerve damage in his shoulder, while Patchell limped out of the season finale with a hamstring problem.

Wales boss Pivac is without a handful of players for the tour with Ken Owens, Justin Tipuric, Ross Moriarty, Christ Tshiunza, Aaron Wainwright, Uilisi Halaholo, Leigh Halfpenny and Johnny McNicholl all sidelined. Tight-head Leon Brown was initially named in the squad but has been released after failing to recover from nerve damage, leading to the call-up of unheralded Saracens prop Wainwright.

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