The Junior Springboks fell short in their bid to capture the Under-20 Rugby Championship when they lost to New Zealand in Gqeberha, but SA U20 head coach Kevin Foote said the players can take huge positives from their courageous effort against the young Kiwis.
Former SA U18 lock and national age-group cricketer Riley Norton will captain the Junior Springboks against Argentina in the opening round of the Rugby Championship U20 at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Gqeberha on Thursday.
The Junior Springbok season will kick off in all earnest with the invitation of a big group of players to the first SA Rugby Under-20 Academy camp, which will be held at the Stellenbosch Academy of Sport from 26 January to 16 February.
Wandile Mlaba, who was called up to the Junior Springbok squad earlier this week, is set to make his SA U20 debut off the bench in Friday’s final encounter of the World Rugby U20 Championship against Wales in Cape Town.
The Junior Springbok team to face England on Tuesday at the Athlone Stadium in Cape Town in a vital Pool C match of the World Rugby Under-20 Championship, show several changes from the line-up that faced Argentina.
Junior Springbok coach Bafana Nhleko has tweaked the starting fifteen for Thursday’s World Rugby U20 Championship encounter with Argentina in Stellenbosch by making five changes to the run-on side that started in the win over Fiji.
The Junior Springboks have included three uncapped players, namely hooker Luca Bakkes, flyhalf Liam Koen and outside back Likhona Finca, in their match day squad for their World Rugby Under-20 opening match against Fiji at the Cape Town Stadium on Saturday.
The World Rugby U20 Championship returns to South Africa in June and July when the 12 best Under-20 teams will battle it out for global supremacy.
The Junior Springboks will kick off the inaugural Rugby Championship (TRC) Under-20 tournament with an exciting match against New Zealand on Thursday, 2 May at the Sunshine Coast Stadium, SANZAAR confirmed on Wednesday when it announced the draw for new competition.
SA Rugby’s Director of Rugby Rassie Erasmus and Junior Springbok head coach Bafana Nhleko reacted enthusiastically to the announcement made by SANZAAR that a new U20 Rugby Championship will kick off in 2024.