Wales coach Rob Howley has played down the idea that the Springboks will be a weak side when they face Wales at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday.
Springbok selectors have named a team with half a dozen Europe-based stars and includes World Cup winning captain Jon Smit and former Ospreys scrum-half Ricky Januarie in the starting line up.
There are just two players in the squad that are uncapped in Stormers wing Gio Aplon and his club colleague, back row Francois Louw, while Racing Metro's Francois Steyn, Toulon's Joe van Niekerk and Irish-based trio Jean de Villiers, CJ van der Linde and BJ Botha are all involved.
De Villiers, Botha and van der Linde all featured in the Boks' final Test of 2009 against Ireland at Croke Park in November.
Steyn last played for the Springboks in the Tri-Nations decider against New Zealand in Hamilton last August and No8 van Niekerk last represented South Africa in Tests against Australia in August 2008.
"The first thing that strikes you is the level of experience and pure rugby intelligence the Springboks are able to put on the field," said Howley on the WRU site.
"The strength in depth they have in South African rugby is immense and you only have to look at the side they have selected to see that.
"They have recalled some extremely experienced players from their overseas contingent and those players will be relishing the opportunity to pull on that green and gold jersey again and, in a World Cup year, they will have something to prove to their coaches.
"If we could come away with a result against this Springbok side it would have real meaning for us and set us up for our tour of New Zealand.
"We keep repeating that we want to test ourselves against the best world rugby has to offer, and there is no doubting that we will be doing just that on 5th June and thereafter."
Howley is hopeful that the meeting with the Springboks in Cardiff can become a springboard for Wales, but he also has a word or warning about the Millennium Stadium factor and is hoping the home fans can give his side an extra edge.
"The Millennium Stadium is one of the best venues on the world stage," said Howley.
"We faced Jean (de Villiers) over in South Africa during our 2008 tour there but they will be relishing the opportunity to come to the Millennium Stadium to play, not just for selection, but for the experience in itself.
"The stadium can bring out the best in opposition teams, but hopefully the crowd will see we have a magnificent opportunity here and get right behind us in a big way on the day and cancel that factor out.
"There are plenty of stars in the Springbok side who both the crowd and the players will be familiar with, but we will be picking the strongest possible Welsh side and going into the game with real confidence.
"They have a host of intelligent and experienced players like (Ricky) Januarie so we will need to be on our mettle, but we believe in ourselves and we are very much looking forward to the challenge."
The Springbok selection also sees Ulster bound Ruan Pienaar start his first Test at fly-half since the Tri-Nations clash with the All Blacks in Bloemfontein in July last year.
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