South Africa hooker Bismarck du Plessis will miss the June Test with Wales after being ruled out for three months following an operation on his neck.
The Sharks star underwent neck surgery last Wednesday, his coach John Plumtree revealed after their Super 14 defeat to the Bulls on Saturday.
The 25-year-old will miss Tests against Wales, France and Italy as well as South Africa’s Tri-Nations away games.
The World Cup winners are to play Wales in Cardiff on Saturday, 5 June in partnership with Wales’ largest building society, Principality, which is itself celebrating 150 years at the heart of the nation.
The deal provides a significant boost to Welsh rugby and allows Principality Building Society the naming rights to the match, which serves as a mouth-watering appetizer to Wales’ two-match summer tour of New Zealand a week later, and will provide a raft of other benefits and offers to its 500,000-plus members.
Through a range of promotions running alongside the partnership, the Society’s members will have the opportunity to not only win tickets to the game, but also meet the Wales team, visit training sessions and even present the Prince William Cup to the winning side on match-day.
The Principality Building Society already has a long association with the WRU, having sponsored the Welsh Premiership since 2005 and previously the WRU’s main knock-out cup competition from 2001 to 2003.
Formed in 1860, the Welsh building society is 21 years older than the WRU and is as much a part of the fabric of Wales as the national game itself.
The WRU has already sold in excess of 40,000 tickets for the clash with the Springboks on what could be an historic day for head coach Warren Gatland and his men.
The Principality Building Society Summer Test celebrates the 10th anniversary of the only time Wales have beaten the Boks in 23 attempts, the 29-19 victory at the Millennium Stadium’s inaugural match on 26 June, 1999 – (Wales have lost to South Africa 21 times since 1906, the seventh meeting between the two sides in 1970, at the national stadium in Cardiff, ended in a 6-6 draw).
