Ruan Pienaar is ready to face Mike Phillips © Getty Images

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Players/Officials: Ruan Pienaar

Tournaments/Tours: South Africa tour

Teams: South Africa | Wales

South Africa scrum-half Ruan Pienaar will not take the challenge posed by Wales' Mike Phillips lightly when they go head-to-head at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday.

The Ospreys No.9 has been under pressure from the media in the build-up to the game after a below-par performance in defeat to Australia last weekend, a showing that was highlighted by Cardiff scrum-half Richie Rees' lively try-scoring cameo.

Nevertheless, Pienaar, who faced Phillips during the British & Irish Lions tour last year, has refused to underestimate his rival.

"I have not read any papers this week but I know he is under a bit of pressure," he said. "But you don't become a bad player overnight, he is one of the better nines in world rugby and every time he gets picked in the Welsh jersey all the players around him are confident.

"I'm sure he will have been working hard this week to try and get back to his best. He was a really big threat for us and he is one of the special players Wales look to so they can secure go-forward ball. He is a world-class player but he will just go out and play his game, go out and do what he does best."

A fired-up Phillips will no doubt be a boost as Wales look for only their second win over the Springboks. Loose-head Gethin Jenkins, who has played South Africa eight times for Wales and the Lions with no reward, is desperate to end their losing streak - one that has now been rolling for 11 years.

"I've never beaten South Africa, but I believe that if we put a good performance in, we can really compete with them. We need to step up for ourselves as a squad," he said. "We hate losing as much as the Welsh public hate us losing. We want to come out afterwards and talk about the good things after a victory.

"It's frustrating when you have to talk about where we've gone wrong and where we haven't won the game. There is no greater feeling than when you have won an international game, you've worn that jersey and come off the field with a victory. We are doing as much work as we can in training to put little things right where we think they are going wrong. I think we need to be a little bit smarter and nail those key moments in a game.

"You have got to be on the ball for 80 minutes against these guys. We do tend to sometimes switch off, and you can get hurt and lose seven points at this level. It's a long way back then."