Double trouble for Junior Boks

 

Jean-Luc Du Preez retains his place on the blindside flank, while twin brother Dan will fill the openside role in the second Under-20 World Cup pool game for South Africa.

 

Junior Springbok coach Dawie Theron has made eight changes in total to his matchday-23 as he rotates his squad in the short tournament.

 

Four of these players will make a first start for the team, although only right wing Grant Hermanus will make a run-on debut in the tournament. 

 

Mzamo Majola (prop), Hyron Andrews (lock), Jacques Vermeulen (flank) and EW Viljoen (fullback) are all on the bench.

 

As part of his player management process at the U20 World Cup, Theron also made two more changes to his pack of forwards. Hooker Joseph Dweba, Jason Jenkins (lock) will also start on Saturday alongside Du Preez in Parma after all three saw action from the bench against Italy.

 

"The changes are all part of our process to manage the players effectively during the tournament. There is a short turnaround time between matches and we must make use of our full squad," said Theron.

 

He says his team have prepared well for Samoa: "We expect Samoa to be very physical against us. They were competitive and very physical against Australia and we can expect the same on Saturday. 

 

"They are also prepared to run the ball from anywhere so we will have to be on our guard with our defense."

 

South Africa: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Grant Hermanus, 13 John Jackson, 12 Daniel du Plessis, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Brandon Thomson, 9 Ivan van Zyl, 8 Hanro Liebenberg (captain), 7 Jean-Luc du Preez, 6 Dan du Preez, 5 Rudolph Snyman, 4 Jason Jenkins, 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Retshegofaditswe Nche.

Replacements: 16 Jan van der Merwe, 17 Mzamo Majola, 18 Frans van Wyk, 19. Hyron Andrews, 20 Jacques Vermeulen, 21 Marco Jansen van Vuren, 22 Tinus de Beer, 23 EW Viljoen.

 

Date: Saturday, June 6

Venue: Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi, Parma

Kick-off: 18.30 (16.30 GMT)

Referee: Elia Rizzo (Italy)

Assistant referees: Lloyd Linton (Scotland), Stefano Roscini (Italy)