Theron to test new combinations against Maties
Junior Springbok coach Dawie Theron made seven changes to his starting team to face the Maties Under-20 Invitational side on Tuesday night in their second warm-up match leading up to the World Rugby U20 Championship.
The tournament will be hosted in Manchester, England, from 7 to 25 June, with the Junior Springboks facing Japan, Argentina and France in the pool stages of the tournament.
The clash against Maties’ juniors will kick off at 18h30 on Tuesday at the Danie Craven Stadium in Stellenbosch.
The changes to the team that faced the Xerox Golden Lions Under-20 Invitational squad last week will see utility back Manie Libbok moving from flyhalf to fullback, with former SA Schools flyhalf Curwin Bosch earning a start at pivot.
Centre JT Jackson and scrumhalf Marco Jansen van Vuren, who are the only survivors of last year’s World Rugby U20 Championship squad, have also been handed starts, which will see Franco Naude and Embrose Papier start on the bench.
Theron retained the loose trio of No 8 Junior Pokomela and flankers Ernst van Rhyn and Zain Davids, but he named a new front row of props Franco van den Berg and Jaco Holtzhausen and hooker Tango Balekile. The other change in the tight five was at lock where Cobus Wiese will pair up with Eduard Zandberg in the engine room.
Locks Eli Snyman and Ruben de Villiers were not available for selection as they are recovering from injuries, while scrumhalf James Hall is on Vodacom Super Rugby duty for the Southern Kings.
“We are still in the process of testing player combinations, so we have made a few changes to the side,” said Theron.
“Manie and Curwin are both flyhalves and they are exciting playmakers, so I decided to rotate them and see what they have to offer as a flyhalf/fullback combination.
“I am also looking forward to seeing what impact the new front row will have in the match.”
Looking ahead at the match, Theron expected Maties to provide a tough test.
“We selected this match as our second warm-up match because we knew Maties would test us, and hopefully we will be able to raise our game from last week’s performance against the Xerox Golden Lions Under-20 Invitational side,” said Theron.
“We created several chances which we did not convert into points last week and we slipped up on defence at times, so hopefully we will improve in those areas on Tuesday.”
Junior Springbok squad vs Maties:
Position
Player
Province
15
Manie Libbok
Vodacom Blue Bulls
14
S’busiso Nkosi
Cell C Sharks
13
Jeremy Ward (captain)
Eastern Province
12
JT Jackson
Vodacom Blue Bulls
11
Mosolwa Mafuma
Toyota Free State
10
Curwin Bosch
Cell C Sharks
9
Marco Jansen van Vuren
Xerox Golden Lions
8
Junior Pokomela
Eastern Province
7
Ernst van Rhyn
DHL Western Province
6
Zain Davids
DHL Western Province
5
Eduard Zandberg
DHL Western Province
4
Cobus Wiese
DHL Western Province
3
Jaco Holtzhausen
Vodacom Blue Bulls
2
Tango Balekile
Eastern Province
1
Franco van den Berg
Vodacom Blue Bulls
Replacements
16
Kwenzo Blose
Toyota Free State
17
Carlü Sadie
DHL Western Province
18
Nicolaas Oosthuizen
Eastern Province
19
Denzel Hill
Vodacom Blue Bulls
20
Embrose Papier
Vodacom Blue Bulls
21
Edwill van der Merwe
DHL Western Province
22
Stedman Gans
Vodacom Blue Bulls
23
Franco Naude
Vodacom Blue Bulls
24
Keanu Vers
Eastern Province
Is
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