# 1998 Wales rugby union tour of Africa

The Wales national rugby union team toured southern Africa in June 1998, playing test matches against Zimbabwe and South Africa, as well as tour matches against the Emerging Springboks and three of the South African provincial sides.
Wales head coach Kevin Bowring had resigned at the end of the 1998 Five Nations Championship, and with a replacement yet to be appointed, Dennis John was made caretaker coach ahead of the tour. Prior to the tour, 18 players from Wales made themselves unavailable to participate, while a further 8 picked up injuries during the tour.
Wales won their initial match against Zimbabwe in Harare, before moving on to the second leg of the tour in South Africa. Here they would play four tour matches against representative and provincial opposition and a test match against the Springboks. Wales lost all four of the tour matches, and then were defeated by South Africa in the test match. The final scoreline of 96–13 was the biggest defeat Wales had ever had, and remains so as of 2024.

## Squad

Pending the appointment of a replacement for coach Kevin Bowring, who resigned after the 1998 Five Nations Championship, Wales named Pontypridd's Dennis John as their interim coach for the tour of southern Africa. With 16 regular squad members unavailable due to injury, including fly-half Neil Jenkins and centre Scott Gibbs, they named a 30-man squad that included 10 uncapped players A further seven players were injured during the tour, including captain Rob Howley; called up in their place were the likes of Ebbw Vale back rower Kingsley Jones – in what would turn out to be his final Wales call-up – and uncapped Llanelli fly-half Stephen Jones.
| Name | Position | Club | Notes |
| Garin Jenkins | Hooker | Swansea | |
| Barry Williams | Hooker | Richmond | |
| John Davies | Prop | Richmond | |
| Ben Evans | Prop | Neath | |
| Mike Griffiths | Prop | Pontypridd | |
| Darren Morris | Prop | Neath | |
| Paul Arnold | Lock | Swansea | |
| Ian Gough | Lock | Newport | |
| Andy Moore | Lock | Swansea | |
| Chris Stephens | Lock | Bridgend | Injury replacement for Mark Jones |
| Chris Wyatt | Lock | Llanelli | |
| Rob Appleyard | Back row | Swansea | Withdrew due to injury |
| Colin Charvis | Back row | Swansea | |
| Kingsley Jones | Back row | Ebbw Vale | Injury replacement for Rob Appleyard |
| Mark Jones | Back row | Ebbw Vale | Withdrew due to injury |
| Geraint Lewis | Back row | Pontypridd | Injury replacement for Scott Quinnell |
| Scott Quinnell | Back row | Richmond | Withdrew due to injury |
| Dean Thomas | Back row | Swansea | Injury replacement for Martyn Williams |
| Nathan Thomas | Back row | Bath | |
| Martyn Williams | Back row | Pontypridd | Withdrew due to injury |
| Rob Howley | Scrum-half | Cardiff | Captain |
| Paul John | Scrum-half | Pontypridd | |
| David Llewellyn | Scrum-half | Ebbw Vale | Injury cover for Rob Howley |
| Stephen Jones | Fly-half | Llanelli | Injury replacement for Wayne Proctor |
| Byron Hayward | Fly-half | Ebbw Vale | |
| Arwel Thomas | Fly-half | Swansea | |
| Leigh Davies | Centre | Cardiff | |
| Geraint Evans | Centre | Neath | Injury replacement for David Weatherley |
| John Funnell | Centre | Ebbw Vale | |
| Mark Taylor | Centre | Swansea | |
| Garan Evans | Wing | Llanelli | |
| Dafydd James | Wing | Pontypridd | |
| Wayne Proctor | Wing | Llanelli | Withdrew due to injury |
| Richard Rees | Wing | Swansea | |
| Lenny Woodard | Wing | Ebbw Vale | |
| David Weatherley | Full-back | Swansea | Withdrew due to injury |
| Darril Williams | Full-back | Llanelli | |

## Results

Scores and results list Wales's points tally first.
| Opponent | For | Against | Date | Venue | Status |
| Zimbabwe | 49 | 11 | 6 June 1998 | Harare | Test match |
| Emerging Springboks | 13 | 35 | 12 June 1998 | Secunda | Tour match |
| Border Bulldogs | 8 | 24 | 16 June 1998 | East London | Tour match |
| Natal Sharks | 23 | 30 | 19 June 1998 | Durban | Tour match |
| Gauteng Falcons | 37 | 39 | 23 June 1998 | Vanderbijlpark | Tour match |
| South Africa | 13 | 96 | 27 June 1998 | Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria | Test match |

### Zimbabwe vs Wales

* 6 June 1998
| Zimbabwe | 11–49 | Wales |
| Try: Bekker Pen: Tsimba (2) | Report | Try: Hayward (3) Rees (2) A. Thomas (2) Proctor Con: A. Thomas (3) Pen: A. Thomas |
* National Sports Stadium, Harare Attendance: 6,000 Referee: Johnnie Meuwesen (Namibia)
| FB | 15 | Victor Olonga |
| RW | 14 | G. Campbell |
| OC | 13 | John Ewing |
| IC | 12 | Brendan French |
| LW | 11 | R. Karimazondo | 49' |
| FH | 10 | Kennedy Tsimba | 60' |
| SH | 9 | Ryan Bekker | 70' |
| N8 | 8 | Brendon Dawson (c) |
| OF | 7 | Mordekai Mwerenga | 30' |
| BF | 6 | Leon Greeff |
| RL | 5 | Shaun Landman |
| LL | 4 | Brenton Catterall |
| TP | 3 | Graham Stewart |
| HK | 2 | Wayne Barratt | 72' |
| LP | 1 | Gary Snyder |
| Replacements: ||
| FL | | C. McNab | 30' |
| WG | | Dave Walters | 49' |
| FB | | Doug Trivella | 60' |
| SH | | Neill Nortje | 70' |
| HK | | Ian Neilson | 72' |
| Coach: ||
| Alex Nicholls ||
| FB | 15 | David Weatherley | 31' |
| RW | 14 | Richard Rees |
| OC | 13 | Mark Taylor | 27' |
| IC | 12 | Dafydd James |
| LW | 11 | Wayne Proctor |
| FH | 10 | Arwel Thomas |
| SH | 9 | Rob Howley (c) | 78' |
| N8 | 8 | Scott Quinnell | 56' |
| OF | 7 | Martyn Williams |
| BF | 6 | Nathan Thomas |
| RL | 5 | Andy Moore |
| LL | 4 | Mark Jones | 71' |
| TP | 3 | John Davies |
| HK | 2 | Garin Jenkins | 56' |
| LP | 1 | Darren Morris |
| Replacements: ||
| CE | 16 | John Funnell | 27' |
| FB | 17 | Byron Hayward | 31' |
| SH | 18 | Paul John | 78' |
| HK | 19 | Barry Williams | 56' |
| PR | 20 | Mike Griffiths |
| LK | 21 | Chris Wyatt | 71' |
| FL | 22 | Colin Charvis | 56' |
| Coach: ||
| Dennis John ||

### Emerging Springboks vs Wales

* 12 June 1998
| Emerging Springboks | 35–13 | Wales |
| Try: Daniels (3) Fleck L. Venter Con: Koen (2) Pen: Koen (2) | | Try: James Con: Hayward Pen: Hayward (2) |
* Secunda Stadium, Secunda Referee: Jonathan Kaplan (Natal)

### Border Bulldogs vs Wales

* 16 June 1998
| Border Bulldogs | 24–8 | Wales |
| Try: Heidtmann Van der Walt Con: Bradbrook Pen: Bradbrook (4) | | Try: Rees Pen: A. Thomas |
* Basil Kenyon Stadium, East London Referee: Tappe Henning (Northern Transvaal)

### Natal Sharks vs Wales

* 19 June 1998
| Natal Sharks | 30–23 | Wales |
| Try: Brink (3) Joubert Con: Joubert (2) Pen: Joubert (2) | | Try: A. Thomas Hayward Con: A. Thomas (2) Pen: A. Thomas (3) |
* Kings Park Stadium, Durban Referee: André Watson (Eastern Transvaal)

### Gauteng Falcons vs Wales

* 23 June 1998
| Gauteng Falcons | 39–37 | Wales |
| Try: Geyer (2) Strydom Lourens Moyle Booysen Con: Van Straaten (2) Van As Pen: Van Straaten | | Try: Funnell Arnold Woodard Taylor Con: Hayward (4) Pen: Hayward (3) |
* Isak Steyl Stadium, Vanderbijlpark Referee: Carl Spannenberg (Western Province)

### South Africa vs Wales

* 27 June 1998
| South Africa | 96–13 | Wales |
| Try: Rossouw (3) Montgomery (2) Terblanche (2) Venter (2) Van der Westhuizen Otto Smith Erasmus Skinstad Hendricks Con: Montgomery (9) Pen: Montgomery | Report | Try: A. Thomas Con: A. Thomas Pen: A. Thomas (2) |
* Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria Attendance: 33,633 Referee: Paddy O'Brien (New Zealand)
| FB | 15 | Percy Montgomery |
| RW | 14 | Stefan Terblanche | 47' |
| OC | 13 | André Snyman |
| IC | 12 | Pieter Muller | 40' |
| LW | 11 | Pieter Rossouw |
| FH | 10 | Franco Smith |
| SH | 9 | Joost van der Westhuizen | 45' |
| N8 | 8 | André Venter |
| OF | 7 | Gary Teichmann | 58' |
| BF | 6 | Rassie Erasmus |
| RL | 5 | Mark Andrews | 55' |
| LL | 4 | Krynauw Otto |
| TP | 3 | Adrian Garvey | 66' |
| HK | 2 | James Dalton | 60' |
| LP | 1 | Robbi Kempson |
| Replacements: ||
| WG | 16 | McNeil Hendricks | 47' |
| CE | 17 | Henry Honiball | 40' |
| SH | 18 | Werner Swanepoel | 45' |
| N8 | 19 | Andrew Aitken | 58' |
| FL | 20 | Bobby Skinstad | 55' |
| PR | 21 | Ollie le Roux | 66' |
| HK | 22 | Naka Drotské | 60' |
| Coach: ||
| Nick Mallett ||
| FB | 15 | Byron Hayward | 48' |
| RW | 14 | Dafydd James |
| OC | 13 | Mark Taylor |
| IC | 12 | John Funnell | 50' |
| LW | 11 | Garan Evans |
| FH | 10 | Arwel Thomas |
| SH | 9 | Paul John | 79' |
| N8 | 8 | Kingsley Jones | 40' |
| OF | 7 | Colin Charvis | 73' |
| BF | 6 | Nathan Thomas |
| RL | 5 | Andy Moore |
| LL | 4 | Ian Gough |
| TP | 3 | John Davies | 60' |
| HK | 2 | Barry Williams | 66' |
| LP | 1 | Mike Griffiths |
| Replacements: ||
| FB | 16 | Darril Williams | 48' |
| FH | 17 | Stephen Jones | 50' |
| SH | 18 | David Llewellyn | 79' |
| FL | 19 | Geraint Lewis | 73' |
| LK | 20 | Chris Wyatt | 40' |
| PR | 21 | Darren Morris | 60' |
| HK | 22 | Garin Jenkins | 66' |
| Coach: ||
| Dennis John ||