Now or never for U20s
Junior Springboks coach Dawie Theron made five changes to his starting team for their crucial Pool B clash against England in the Cape Town Stadium on Tuesday.
Theron has recalled fullback Dillyn Leyds and wings Paul Jordaan and Pat Howard to his backline and Shaun Adendorff and Fabian Booysen to his loose trio, with his midfield, halfbacks and tight five from the convincing victory over Italy remaining intact.
Theron expressed his excitement for this crucial IRB Junior World Championships clash.
"We have all of our current squad fit and ready to play, so I could pick a team I believe can take us past England and into the final four of the competition.
"We’ve recovered well from the Italy match, but realise that England will be a different opponent, both physically and mentally."
With both teams needing a bonus point and a win to edge out Ireland, Theron is expecting an all-action affair at the fast surface of the Cape Town Stadium.
"We need to score tries and try and get the bonus point and England will have to do the same, so one expects a match with two positives sides playing attacking rugby.
"This means that we will have to attack well, but even defend better, as England have shown that they are a team that can score tries."
England head coach Rob Hunter says that the squad is looking forward to what promises to be an entertaining match.
"We're very excited about the game," he said. "When the pools were announced we knew that this one was going to be a fantastic match-up.
"Playing the Baby Boks in their own backyard will be a memorable experience and I'm sure that there will be a great atmosphere.
"As a squad we're feeling pretty fresh, we had a tough game against Ireland and we've made a few changes from that starting team but we're very focused on the task in hand and can't wait to get out there."
Hunter added: "Of course we're going for the win, it's the best way to ensure we make it out of the group, we don't want to leave it to math. Last year's game against South Africa was incredibly physical, it was one of the games of the tournament, and we're expecting exactly the same."
* Meanwhile, Wales Under-20 head coach Danny Wilson insists his side will have achieved nothing if they don't beat Samoa and ensure qualification for the Junior World Championship semifinals.
Despite an historic 9-6 win over New Zealand on Friday – the first loss by New Zealand in the five years of the tournament – Wilson emphasised the potential threat the South Sea Islanders will pose in the final round of Pool matches.
Wilson said: "The players have certainly gained in confidence having beaten New Zealand, and the win gave us a good platform to build from. However, Samoa are a dangerous side and we're certainly not taking them lightly.
"After the rain last week, we've switched grounds and the conditions are now hot and dry which will suit Samoa well. They will be a big, physical challenge with dangerous runners but we have to play to our strengths again and stick to our game plan. We have a strong pack of forwards but we also want to play rugby – when the time is right."
Schedule and available teams:
(kick-off times are local – GMT plus two hours)
Tuesday, June 12:
Pool A:
16.45: Wales v Samoa – UWC Stadium, Cape Town
Wales: 15 Ross Jones, 14 Tom Prydie, 13 Cory Allen, 12 Thomas Pascoe, 11 Eli Walker, 10 Matthew Morgan, 9 Tom Habberfield, 8 Dan Baker. 7 Daniel Thomas, 6 Luke Hamilton, 5 Matthew Screech, 4 Rhodri Hughes, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Kirby Myhill (captain), 1 Rob Evans.
Replacements: 16 Darran Harris, 17 Gareth Thomas, 18 WillGriff John, 19 Ieuan Jones, 20 Ellis Jenkins, 21 Jonathan Evans, 22 Sam Davies, 23 Jack Dixon.
Samoa: tbc
18.45: New Zealand v Fiji – UWC Stadium, Cape Town
New Zealand : 15 Matt Proctor, 14 Junior Tofa-Va'a, 13 Jason Emery, 12 Pita Ahki, 11 Milford Keresoma, 10 Ihaia West, 9 Jonathan Kitto, 8 Taniela Manu, 7 Jake Heenan, 6 Glen Preston, 5 Christian Lloyd, 4 Nick Ross, 3 Fraser Armstrong, 2 Rhys Marshall, 1 Tuki Raimona.
Replacements: 16 Nathan Harris, 17 Eric Sione, 18 Ofa Tuungafasi, 19 Hugh Blake, 20 Jordan Taufua, 21 Scott Eade, 22 Ope Peleseuma, 23 Ambrose Curtis.
Fiji: tbc
Pool B
14.45: Ireland v Italy – Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town
Ireland: tbc
Italy: tbc
18.45: South Africa v England – Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town
South Africa: 15 Dillyn Leyds, 14 Paul Jordaan, 13 William Small-Smith, 12 Jan Serfontein, 11 Pat Howard, 10 Handrè Pollard, 9 Vian van der Watt, 8 Fabian Booysen, 7 Wiaan Liebenberg (captain), 6 Shaun Adendorff, 5 Ruan Botha, 4 Paul Willemse, 3 Oliver Kebble, 2 Jason Thomas, 1 Steven Kitshoff.
Replacements: 16 Mark Pretorius, 17 Allan Dell, 18 Pieter Steph du Toit, 19 Braam Steyn, 20 Abrie Griesel, 21 Tony Jantjies, 22 Tshotsho Mbovane, 23 Maks van Dyk.
England: 15 Tommy Bell, 14 Marland Yarde, 13 Sam Hill, 12 Ryan Mills, 11 Charlie Walker, 10 Tom Heathcote, 9 Dan Robson, 8 Jack Clifford, 7 Chris Walker (captain), 6 Billy Vunipola, 5 Dominic Barrow, 4 Sam Twomey, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Koree Britton, 1 Luke Cowan-Dickie.
Replacements: 16 Nathan Morris, 17 Alec Hepburn, 18 Ross Harrison, 19 George Merrick, 20 Ben Nutley, 21 Ben Spencer, 22 Josh Bassett, 23 Ben Ransom.
Pool C:
14.45: Argentina v Scotland – UWC Stadium, Cape Town
Argentina: tbc
Scotland: tbc
16.45: France v Australia – Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town
France: tbc
Australia: 15 Lewis Holland, 14 James Dargaville, 13 Chris Feauai-Sautia, 12 Apolosi Latunipulu, 11 Allan Faalavaau, 10 Kyle Godwin, 9 Nick Frisby, 8 Thomas Cusack, 7 Liam Gill (captain), 6 Sean McMahon, 5 Curtis Browning, 4 Jed Holloway, 3 Leslie Makin, 2 Hugh Roach, 1 Pettowa Paraka.
Replacements: 16 Silatolu Latu, 17 Oliver Hoskins, 18 Sam Jeffries, 19 Benn Melrose, 20 Matt Lucas, 21 Con Foley, 22 Ulupano Seuteni, 23 Allan Alaalatoa.
