Rugby Champions U20 Round Two - teams and predictions

ROUND TWO PREVIEW: Junior Springbok coach Kevin Foote has made several rotational changes to his starting line-up and included four players who played for the SA U20s last year for their second Rugby Championship Under-20 match against Australia at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Gqeberha on Tuesday.

The SA U20s managed to beat Argentina in the opening round on Thursday, while Australia forced a late draw against New Zealand, scoring the equalising try after the hooter had sounded.

Foote has handed starts to JC Mars, Wandile Mlaba, Batho Hlekani, and Herman Lubbe, all of whom played for the Junior Boks last year.

The SA U20 coach said it is important to keep their momentum going, manage the load of the players whilst also building squad depth by giving the players exposure to top-class international rugby.

With this – and Tuesday’s game against Australia – in mind, Foote said: “We play three internationals against quality teams in just 11 days, and with the short turnaround time between matches, we must be smart with our player load management.

“We have good squad depth, and the players need to get a taste of international rugby, while we also want to build on our performance against Argentina, knowing that Australia will pose a huge challenge for us.”

In the Junior Bok front row, Simphiwe Ngobese and Lubbe will pack down as props on either side of hooker Juandre Schoeman. Riley Norton is retained at lock and will captain the team again, partnering with Morne Venter.

The loose forward combination sees Xola Nyali, who had a successful campaign with Varsity Cup champions, UCT, coming onto the side of the scrum at flanker. He teams up with Hlekani, who made a strong impact off the bench in the second half against the Pumitas, while Mlaba is retained at No. 8 to complete the loose trio.

Amongst the backs, there is a new halfback pairing consisting of Ceano Everson (scrumhalf) and Vusi Moyo (flyhalf), while the midfield comprises Dominic Malgas and Scott Nel. Cheswill Jooste will start again at right wing, and he will be joined in the back three by Siya Ndlozi (left wing) and Mars (fullback).

Regarding the team and their prospects of playing Australia, who will be highly motivated to register their first win, Foote said he is happy with the balance of the squad.

“It’s a nice match-23 with lots of exciting players and speed amongst the backs, complemented by a big and physical forward pack, and we are looking forward to the game,” said Foote.

“We see Australia as a massive threat with their ball movement and how they play with width, and we expect they will have some special structured set pieces with lineouts and scrums.

“I know Chris Whitaker from our time together in Super Rugby, and he is an exciting, attacking coach. We know we will have to be on top of our game regarding their threats.”

* Meanwhile The New Zealand and Argentina coaches named their teams.

The Pumitas, coached by Nicolás Fernández Miranda, will face New Zealand, who drew 29-all with Australia in their first match.

Los Pumitas lost to the hosts 25-36 in their debut match.

The last meeting between the two teams took place last year, in the first edition of the international tournament, where Los Pumitas lost to New Zealand 20-43.

The New Zealanders were crowned champions.

Carlos Mohapp, one of the U20 national team coaches, spoke about how the team is approaching the upcoming match: “We’re approaching it by looking at and analyzing what we were able to do against South Africa, trying to improve on all the shortcomings we had in the match.

“In terms of intensity, we’re trying to sustain the intensity we were playing at times for much longer, continuing to do the things that went well, the back play, the wide play, the attacking play, it was really good.

“We’re trying to improve the maul, which is a strength of this team and we want it to be present in this match, but the most important thing will be to sustain the intensity for the full 80 minutes and be much more present in our footwork, being able to get out of our own half more easily to put pressure on New Zealand.”

He also highlighted the team’s objectives: “Our objective is to have a little more possession against this team.

“We know they can do a lot of damage with possession, so we’re very comfortable with the ball, with our attacking play, with our attacking system, and we want to put it on the field much more. Also, apart from improving on what we did against South Africa, we want to continue to show the good things in attack, like the wide play and the pace of the game that we were able to bring at times.”

Regarding the team’s condition, he commented: “The team is doing very well, they’re really eager. They realized they were in the match against South Africa for a long time and needed a little more time, a few more minutes on the pitch to be able to win the match.

“They’re really looking forward to getting revenge, to showing they’re competitive, that they’re up to the task of this tournament, and to be able to have something a little better than last match.”

New Zealand U20 coach Milton Haig has named a new-look team to take on Argentina.

Super Rugby U20 Player of the Tournament Eli Oudenryn has been named in the match-day 23.

He is joined by Charlie Sinton, a standout during the Chiefs’ senior squad pre-season, who recorded the fastest time in the team’s bronco fitness test.

Manawatū’s Mosese Bason will assume the captaincy for this match, following in the footsteps of his brother Vernon, who led the side in 2024.

Tuesday, May 6

South Africa v Australia
(Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Gqeberha – Kick-off: 16.10; Wednesday 24.10 Australia time; 14.00 GMT)

Prediction:

@rugby365: South Africa by 14 points

Teams

South Africa: 15 JC Mars, 14 Cheswill Jooste, 13 Scott Nel, 12 Dominic Malgas, 11 Siya Ndlozi, 10 Vusi Moyo, 9 Ceano Everson, 8 Wandile Mlaba, 7 Batho Hlekani, 6 Xola Nyali, 5 Morne Venter, 4 Riley Norton (captain), 3 Herman Lubbe, 2 Juandre Schoeman, 1 Simphiwe Ngobese
Replacements: 16 HB Odendaal, 17 Oliver Reid, 18 Jean Erasmus, 19 Neil Hansen, 20 Thando Biyela, 21 Elrich Visser, 22 Kyle Smith, 23 Gino Cupido

Australia:15 Sid Harvey, 14 Nick Conway, 13 Xavier Rubens, 12 Malakye Enasio, 11 Cooper Watters, 10 Finn Prass, 9 Hwi Sharples, 8 Beau Morrison, 7 Eli Langi, 6 Luca Cleverley, 5 Eamon Doyle (captain), 4 Joe Mangelsdorf, 3 Trevor King, 2 Ollie Barrett, 1 Finn Baxter
Replacements: 16 Lipina Ata, 17 Nick Hill, 18 Edwin Langi, 19 Ollie Aylmer, 20 Charlie Brosnan, 21 James Martens, 22 Joey Fowler, 23 Boston Fakafanua

Referee: Thomas Bertazza (Arg)
Assistant Referees: Todd Petrie (NZ), Phumzile Mbewu
TMO: Quinton Immelman

New Zealand v Argentina
(Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Gqeberha – Kick-off: 14.00, 24.00 NZT; 09.00 Argentina time; 12.00 GMT)

Prediction:

@rugby365: New Zealand by 12 points

Teams

Argentina: 15 Sebastián Dubuc, 14 Juan Ignacio Races, 13 Valentín Maldonado, 12 Felipe Ledesma (captain), 11 Martiniano Arrieta, 10 Ramón Fernandez Miranda, 9 Félix Corleto, 8 Agustín García Campos, 7 Pampa Storey, 6 Tomás Dande, 5 Álvaro García Iandolino, 4 Tomás Duclos, 3 Gael Galván,2 Nicolás Cambiasso, 1 Juan Ignacio Rodriguez.
Replacements: 16 Tadeo Ledesma Arocena, 17 Diego Correa, 18 Ignacio Orsetti, 19 Jeremy Annand, 20 Franco Benítez, 21 Valentino Reggiardo, 22 Pascal Senillosa, 23 Pedro Coll.\

New Zealand: 15 Stanley Solomon, 14 Maloni Kunawave, 13 Cooper Roberts, 12 Tayne Harvey, 11 David Lewai, 10 Will Cole,9 Charlie Sinton,8 Mosese Bason (captain), 7 Caleb Woodley, 6 Finn McLeod, 5 Josh Tengblad, 4 Xavier Treacy, 3 Riley Tofilau, 2 Eli Oudenryn, 1 Sika Pole.
Replacements: 16 Shaun Kempton, 17 Tamiano Ahloo, 18 Robson Faleafā, 19 Harry Irving, 20 Micah Fale, 21 Jai Tamati, 22 Rico Simpson, 23 Taniela Maisiri.

Referee: George Myers (Aus)
Assistant Referees: Christopher Allison (SARU), Sean Muller
TMO: Quinton Immelman