GARETH Davies says Wales are fully motivated to give head coach Warren Gatland an extended send-off - by reaching the Rugby World Cup Final.

Wales have named their side for their semi-final showdown against South Africa on Sunday and the scrum half, from Newcastle Emlyn, will earn his 50th cap.

Davies, who made his debut for Wales against South Africa in 2014, will continue his partnership with Dan Biggar at half-back against the Springboks in Yokohama.

Gatland’s hugely successful 12 years in charge come to an end at the conclusion of the tournament in Japan, and Davies says the Wales squad is determined to go all the way to the final.

“We had been looking forward to this World Cup for the last 18 months,” said Scarlets scrum-half Davies, who was educated a Ysgol Dyffryn Teifi in Llandysul.

“We all knew it was going to be Gats’ last tournament in charge of us, and as players we’ll keep that in the back of our minds. Hopefully that will help us on to victory.”

Davies made an explosive start to the tournament with two tries in the pool stages - including scoring the decisive try to cap a man of the match performance against Australia - taking his impressive scoring tally to seven tries in nine World Cup appearances.

The 29-year-old has totalled 14 tries in 49 Test matches, but he believes it is his defensive work which has taken his game to the next level.

“I’ve been working a lot on my defence over the last couple of years,” Davies said. “It’s a big part of the game these days. It can win you games, and lose you games.

“It’s very important to defend well as a team. I’ve done a lot of work with Shaun Edwards and I’ve learned a lot.

“He’s a very clever bloke. He tells me where I’ll have my best opportunities to make an impact, so hopefully I’ll keep improving there, and get more interceptions.

“It’s just spur of the moment. You get a feel for the game, and a feel for the position that you’re in, and where you are defending in the line.

“It can be a bit of luck, but sometimes it can pay off. I won’t do it every time because teams will start reading me and picking holes off me. I’ll pick my moments and hopefully pick them wisely.”

Victories over Georgia, Australia, Fiji, Uruguay and France have taken Wales to within 80 minutes of the final - with only the Springboks now standing in their way.

Wales have won their last four meetings with South Africa, dating back four years to when the Springboks came out on top by 23-19 in the World Cup quarter-final at Twickenham.

Scrum-half Davies, who went over for his fifth try of the 2015 World Cup in that match, has since moved on to a half century of international caps for Wales.

This year he featured in all five games as Wales won their first Six Nations Grand Slam since 2012 - and he is now within sight of World Rugby's biggest prize.

There are three changes to Wales' starting side, with full-back Leigh Halfpenny replacing Liam Williams, who is feared to be out of the tournament after sustaining an ankle injury in training.

Injured back-rower Josh Navidi, who suffered a hamstring injury against France, is replaced by Ross Moriarty at number eight, and centre Jonathan Davies returns from injury to replace Owen Watkin.Fellow centre Hadleigh Parkes is due to start his sixth match, despite having picked up a small broken bone in his hand in the opening match against Georgia, and a shoulder problem against Uruguay.With Moriarty being promoted to the starting side at number eight, Scarlets back-rower Aaron Shingler comes in on the replacements bench, where he is joined by Watkin.WALES: Halfpenny; North, J Davies, Parkes, Adams; Biggar, G Davies; Wyn Jones, Owens, Francis, Ball, Alun Wyn Jones (capt), Wainwright, Moriarty, Tipuric. Replacements: Dee, R Carre, D Lewis, Beard, Shingler, T Williams, Patchell, Watkin.

SOUTH AFRICA: Le Roux; Nkosi, Am, De Allende, Mapimpi; Pollard, De Klerk; Mtawarira, Mbonambi, Malherbe, Etzebeth, De Jager, Kolisi (capt), Du Toit, Vermeulen. Replacements: Marx, Kitschoff, Koch, Snyman, Mostert, Louw, H Jantjies, Steyn.