Baby Boks make 14 changes
The South African Under-20 team containing 14 changes will line-up to take on a French Selection XV in an international friendly in Paris on Tuesday.
Coach Eric Sauls made wholesale changes to his starting team following their 10-5 defeat to the French Invitational XV in Biarritz on Saturday with loose-forward CJ Stander being the sole survivor for the match.
Fullback Clayton Blommetjies and winger Sampie Mastriet, who represented the SA Under-20s at last year’s IRB Junior World Championship, were among the big guns selected for the Baby Boks starting XV.
Golden Lions’ Divan Ferguson and the Free State Cheetahs’ Francois Venter will form the new centre combination for the SA team while the Vodacom Blue Bulls’ JC Roos will link up with Vodacom Western Province’s Louis Schreuder to form the halfback pairing for the Baby Boks.
Stander will be joined by Rinus Riekert (Golden Lions) and Lean Schwartz (Vodacom Blue Bulls), who will form the loose-forward trio for the South African team, while Peet Marais (Sharks) and Malugisi Bali (Vodacom Blue Bulls) have been selected as the locks for this clash.
Up front, a new front row has also been named with Marcell van der Merwe (Free State), Monde Hadebe (Sharks) and Brummer Badenhorst (Vodacom Western Province) set to pack down in the scrums.
“There are many changes to this team because of our intentions to give every player on tour an equal opportunity to prove himself at international level,” said Sauls.
“We also have to see how different players and different combinations gel as a team.
“We have made steady progress during the last few days here in France and hopefully, the guys will be able to showcase their talent on the field against the French.
“A few of these guys will be afforded with their first chance at Under-20 level, so it’s important to see how they adapt to the conditions tomorrow.”
SA Under-20: 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Sampie Mastriet, 13 Divan Ferguson, 12 Francois Venter, 11 Siburu Sithole, 10 JC Roos, 9 Louis Schreuder, 8 CJ Stander (captain), 7 Rinus Riekert, 6 Lean Schwartz, 5 Malugisi Bali, 4 Peet Marais, 3 Marcell van der Merwe, 2 Monde Hadebe, 1 Brummer Badenhorst.
Replacements: 16 Francois du Toit, 17 Regard Dreyer, 18 Wessel du Rand, 19 Helmuth Lehman, 20 Frederick Muller, 21 Jacobus Scheepers, 22 Ruan Combrink, 23 Andries Ferreira, 24 Sabastian De Chaves.
Date: Tuesday, February 9
Venue: Paris
Kick-off: tbc
Referee: Dudley Phillips (Wales)
