Wales put Owen to test against Springboks

Precisely 999 players have represented Wales over the last 121 years, and there are many who believe the Red Dragons could field the whole lot of them simultaneously and still ship 50 points to England.

Not that Michael Owen, the gifted young loose forward from Pontypridd, will be in a pessimistic frame of mind in Bloemfontein tomorrow when he wins a first Test cap against Bobby Skinstad's Springboks.

As the 1,000th man to be capped by his country, he will break historic ground. So too will Wales, in the unlikely event of them winning. South Africa has been barren territory since 1964, when a team featuring John Dawes and Dai Watkins were heavily beaten in Durban. Since then, they have conceded 40 points in Johannesburg and 96 in Pretoria. The Boks, playing their first Test under Rudi Straueli, may be far from the finished article, but it will be a major surprise if they fail to pass the 30-point mark.

Owen deserves his chance alongside two of last summer's Lions, Colin Charvis and Martyn Williams. He is no Scott Quinnell – who is? – but he is among the cleverest footballing forwards produced by Wales and was a central figure in Ponty's drive towards a first European final last month. Three other uncapped members of that club pack – the hooker Mefin Davies, the lock Robert Sidoli and the flanker Richard Parks – will be on the bench.

The Bristol wing David Rees, has been called into the England squad for the tour to Argentina as a replacement for James Simpson-Daniel who has an ankle injury.