The burly Ospreys prop follows regional team mates Ian Gough and Duncan Jones who were the most recent players to have reached the magical mark when they tackled France in March.
Since making his international debut against England in 2003 as a replacement, Jones has emerged as a key cog in the Welsh engine room.
The 27-year-old, in typical fashion, played down his own achievement of reaching the milestone earlier this week at a press conference.
“I never thought I’d go on to reach this many caps when I first played for Wales,” he said. “It’s a great honour (to reach 50). It will be a great challenge against the Boks. You want to test yourself against the best, so we’ve got to crack on now and see how it goes on Saturday,” he added.
It was left to Wales forwards coach Robin McBryde to reveal the tighthead’s qualities.
“Adam has fronted up at the very highest level for a number of years. He gives everything, never shirks and does a lot of the tough work around the field, as well as being an invaluable part of the Wales scrum,” explained McBryde.
“He has worked under a number of different coaches, while racking up his 50-cap tally and has been an ever-present in the squad. It speaks volumes that so many well-respected rugby men have held him in such high regard.”
He added: “Adam has always had good footballing skills and he is a natural scrummager, but he has really worked hard on his efficiency in games. He doesn’t waste energy unnecessarily and uses a good rugby brain to ensure that when he does hit a ruck or make a tackle it counts for the team.
“That comes from experience, as well as the hard work he does on fitness and stamina. Adam has always been a great student of the game and is very thorough in the way he prepares and analyses his opposite number.
“Prop is one of the few positions where you come in direct contact with your opposite number, so the work you do on analysis before you get anywhere near the rugby field can really pay dividends and Adam is always thorough in that regard.”
McBryde will be hoping Jones has done his homework on tomorrow’s opposite number, Tendai Mtawarira – the man known affectionately in South Africa as The Beast.
“I think I’m right in saying this will be the first time the pair have met and I’m sure Adam is very much relishing the prospect,” added McBryde. “He will want to gain the upper hand, but the Beast has come on leaps and bounds – he had a great Tri Nations and Currie Cup.”
A good performance could see Jones put himself in the frame for a tour spot on the end of season Brisith Lions tour to South Africa.
“The new laws we are playing under this season have made the scrum even more important if teams want to use the scrum to lay a solid foundation to attack from,” explained McBryde.
“Players like Adam, who are proven specialists in that area, become even more important. If you look around Britain at the top players in his position you have to agree he’s got to come into consideration.”
