Junior Boks change seven for SWD clash
The changes will see Blue Bulls lock Eli Snyman and Southern Kings scrumhalf James Hall start earn their first starts for the SA U20s as the Junior Boks conclude their training matches for the World Rugby Under-20 Championship..
Hall joined the squad earlier this week after being released by his Super Rugby franchise for international duty, while Snyman has recovered from a lower leg injury.
The other changes were in the front row where prop where Kwenzo Blose replaces Franco van den Berg and Carlü Sadie comes in for Jaco Holtzhausen.
Snyman, meanwhile, fills the void left by Eduard Zandberg who suffered a concussion against Maties on Tuesday.
In a positional switch, Manie Libbok will start at flyhalf and Curwin Bosch moves to fullback.
This will see Hall and Libbok form a new halfback pairing, with Hall replacing Marco Jansen van Vuren, while centre Franco Naude will reunite with captain Jeremy Ward in the midfield.
Theron retained the effective loose trio of Zain Davids, Ernst van Rhyn and Junior Pokomela, as well as the wingers Mosolwa Mafuma and S’busiso Nkosi.
Aside from Zandberg, the only player unavailable for selection was hooker Jan-Henning Campher, who is nursing an ankle injury.
He has been replaced in the match-day squad by DHL Western Province hooker Ruan Brits, who was named in the provisional Junior Springbok training squad early in April.
Theron said the changes offered him an opportunity to test player combinations under pressure for the last time before the team departs for Manchester.
“James Hall has been doing very well at the Southern Kings, and I was impressed with what I saw when he took to the field against Maties as a replacement, so I am excited to see him in action against SWD,” said Theron.
“I am also pleased that Eli can play after recovering from his injury because it has been a frustrating few weeks for him on the sidelines.
“With regards to the other changes, I wanted to try out combinations for the last time, as this is our final warm-up match.
"Hopefully by the end of the game I will have a good idea of the player combinations that will work effectively in the tournament.”
The Junior Springboks will face Japan, Argentina and France in the pool stages of the World Rugby U20 Championship, in Manchester, England from June 7 to 25.
They will depart for the UK on Thursday, June 2.
Junior Springboks to face SWD: 15 Curwin Bosch, 14 S’busiso Nkosi, 13 Jeremy Ward (captain), 12 Franco Naude, 11 Mosolwa Mafuma, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 James Hall, 8 Junior Pokomela, 7 Ernst van Rhyn, 6 Zain Davids, 5 Eli Snyman, 4 Cobus Wiese, 3 Carlü Sadie, 2 Tango Balekile, 1 Kwenzo Blose.
Replacements: 16 Ruan Brits, 17 Franco van den Berg, 18 Denzel Hill, 19 Nicolaas Oosthuizen, 20 Ruben de Villiers, 21 Marco Jansen van Vuren, 22 Embrose Papier, 23 Stedman Gans, 24 Edwill van der Merwe, 25 JT Jackson, 26 Keanu Vers, 27 Jaco Holtzhausen.
