Under-20 Championship, Semifinals - Teams and Predictions

SEMIFINAL PREVIEW: The Under-20 Championship semifinals are set, with the pool stage having come to an end in Cape Town.

England faces Ireland with New Zealand up against France for a spot in the final.

That means there’s a chance the showpiece could be a repeat of last year when France defeated Ireland 50-14.

But this year France only qualified as the best runner-up, finishing behind New Zealand in Pool 1, the young All Blacks the only team to win all three of their games with bonus points.

Ireland topped Pool 2 but did so without playing their last game after their match against Australia was called off due to weather.

England meanwhile played all three games, powering past hosts South Africa 17-12 in the last match.

Junior Springbok coach Bafana Nhleko made several changes for Sunday’s playoff match with Argentina.

The SA U20 front row is freshened up with only captain Zachary Porthen remaining from the starting trio against England. Porthen anchors the scrum alongside Ruan Swart (prop) and Ethan Bester (hooker).

JF van Heerden moves from lock to blindside flanker in a new-look loose trio, which also features the return of Tiaan Jacobs at No 8.

Amongst the backs, Tyloor Sefoor takes over the flyhalf duties to form a different halfback partnership with Asad Moos. Other rotations in the backline see Phillip-Albert van Niekerk back at inside centre and Joel Leotlela at right wing, while Michail Damon is retained at fullback.

The bench shows a return to a split of five forwards and three backs, with the versatile Ezekiel Ngobeni included after missing the last two games following an injury he picked up against Fiji two weeks ago. Hassiem Pead is set to gain his first run off the bench.

Nhleko said there were several reasons for the team shuffle.

“A couple of the players haven’t featured, and the rotation will give the team the opportunity to play Test match rugby against a quality Argentina outfit,” said Nhleko.

“We also had injuries to Likhona Finca, and Thabang Mphafi, both of who have been ruled out of the competition, and Josh Boulle just missed being ready by a few days.

“It will also give the squad another opportunity to grow their international experience, which is important for our future player pathway.”

See below for Sunday’s teams and predictions!

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— SA Junior Rugby (@SAJuniorRugby) July 12, 2024

South Africa v Argentina
(Athlone Sports Stadium, Cape Town – Kick-off: 14.00; 09.00 Argentina time)

Prediction:

@rugby365com: South Africa by 9 points.

Teams:

South Africa: 15 Michail Damon, 14 Joel Leotlela, 13 Jurenzo Julius, 12 Phillip-Albert van Niekerk, 11 Litelihle Bester, 10 Tyloor Sefoor, 9 Asad Moos, 8 Tiaan Jacobs, 7 JF van Heerden, 6 Sibabalwe Mahashe, 5 Jaco Grobbelaar, 4 Thomas Dyer, 3 Zachary Porthen (captain), 2 Ethan Bester, 1 Ruan Swart
Replacements: 16 Juan Smal, 17 Liyema Ntshanga, 18 Casper Badenhorst, 19 Bathobele Hlekani, 20 Divan Fuller, 21 Hassiem Pead, 22 Bruce Sherwood, 23 Ezekiel Ngobeni

Argentina: 15 Benjamin Elizalde, 14 Timoteo Silva, 13 Tomas Bocco, 12 Felipe Ledesma, 11 Gregorio Perez Pardo, 10 Santino Di Lucca, 9 Jeronimo Llorens, 8 Juan Bernasconi, 7 Santons Fernandez de Oliveira, 6 Juan Penoucos, 5 Alvaro Garcia Iandolino, 4 Efrain Elias, 3 Gael Galvan, 2 Juan Greising Revol, 1 Diego Correa
Replacements: Juan Vivas, 17 Joaquin Yakiche, 18 Marcos Camerlinckx, 19 Felipe Bruno, 20 Julian Rossi, 21 Agustin Sareli, 22 Tomas Di Biase, 23 Tomas Medina

Italy v Spain
Danie Craven Stadium, Stellenbosch: Kick-off: 14.00; 13.00 BST; 12.00 GMT)

Prediction:

@rugby365com: Italy by 10 points

Teams:

Italy:

Spain:

Georgia v Fiji
(Danie Craven Stadium, Stellenbosch: Kick-off: 16:30; 18.30 Georgia time; 02.30 Friday, July 5 FJT)

Prediction:

@rugby365com: Fiji by 12 points

Teams:

Georgia:

Fiji:

England v Ireland
(Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town – Kick-off: 16.30; 15.30 BST; 14.30 GMT)

Prediction:

@rugby365com: England by five points

Teams:

England: 15 Ioan Jones,14 Ben Redshaw, 13 Ben Waghorn, 12 Sean Kerr, 11 Alex Wills, 10 Ben Coen, 9 Ollie Allan, 8 Nathan Michelow, 7 Henry Pollock, 6 Finn Carnduff ©, 5 Junior Kpoku, 4 Joe Bailey, 3 Afolabi Fasogbon, 2 Craig Wright, 1 Asher Opoku-Fordjour
Replacements: 16 James Isaacs, 17 Cameron Miell, 18 James Halliwell, 19 Olamide Sodeke, 20 Kane James, 21 Lucas Friday, 22 Josh Bellamy, 23 Toby Cousins

Ireland: 15 Ben O’Connor, 14 Finn Treacy, 13 Wilhelm de Klerk, 12 Hugh Gavin, 11 Hugo McLaughlin, 10 Jack Murphy, 9 Oliver Coffey, 8 Brian Gleeson, 7 Bryn Ward, 6 Sean Edogbo, 5 James McKillop, 4 Alan Spicer, 3 Jacob Boyd, 2 Danny Sheahan, 1 Ben Howard
Replacements: 16 Stephen Smyth, 17 Emmet Calvey, 18 Patreece Bell, 19 Billy Corrigan, 20 Luke Murphy, 21 Tadhg Brophy, 22 Sean Naughton, 23. Sam Berman

New Zealand v France
(Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town – Kick-off: 19.00; 19.00 GMT; 05.00 Monday, July 15 NZ time)

Prediction:

@rugby365com: New Zealand by seven points

Teams:

New Zealand: 15 Sam Coles, 14 Xavier Tito-Harris, 13 Aki Tuivailala, 12 Xavi Taele, 11 Stan Solomon, 10 Rico Simpson, 9 Dylan Pledger, 8 Mosese Bason, 7 Johnny Lee, 6 Andrew Smith, 5 Liam Jack, 4 Tom Allen, 3 Josh Smith, 2 Vernon Bason (captain), 1 Will Martin
Replacements: 16 Manumaua Letiu, 17 Sika Pole, 18 Gus Brown, 19 Cam Christie, 20 Matt Lowe, 21 Riley Williams, 22 Isaac Hutchinson, 23 King Maxwell

France: TBC

Wales v Australia (5th place)
(Danie Craven Stadium, Stellenbosch – Kick-off: 19.00; 18.00 BST; 17.00 GMT; 03.00 AEST Monday, July 15 AEST)

Prediction:

@rugby365com: Australia by eight points

Teams:

Wales: 15 Matty Young, 14 Kodie Stone, 13 Macs Page, 12 Louie Hennessey, 11 Aidan Boshoff, 10 Harri Wilde, 9 Rhodri Lewis, 8 Morgan Morse, 7 Harry Beddall, 6 Ryan Woodman, 5 Nick Thomas, 4 Jonny Green, 3 Sam Scott, 2 Isaac Young, 1 Jordan Morrisgons RFC)
Replacements: 16 Harry Thomas, 17 Ioan Emmanuel, 18 Kian Hire, 19 Gethyn Cannon, 20 Lucas de la Rua, 21 Lucca Setaro, 22 Harri Ford, 23 Steffan Emanuel

Australia:  15 Shane Wilcox, 14 Ronan Leahy, 13 Kadin Pritchard, 12 Jarrah McLeod, 11 Archie Saunders, 10 Harry McLaughlin-Phillips, 9 Dan Nelson, 8 Jack Harley, 7 Dane Sawers, 6 Aden Ekanayake, 5 Harvey Cordukes, 4 Toby Macpherson (captain), 3 Nick Bloomfield, 2 Ottavio Tuipulotu, 1 Lington leli.
Replacements: 16 Bryn Edwards, 17 Nathaniel Tiitii, 18 Trevor King, 19 Eamon Doyle, 20 Ollie McCrea, 21 Austin Durbidge, 22 Billy Dickens, 23 Boston Fakafuanua