Same again as Baby Boks face Australia
South Africa’s Under-20 coach Eric Sauls on Saturday named the same starting 15 that defeated Tonga 40-14 in their first Pool C match in the 2010 IRB Junior World Championship for their crucial clash against Australia in Santa Fe on Sunday.
The Baby Boks need to secure a victory to guarantee themselves a place in their third consecutive Cup semifinal.
In their second match the South Africans recorded a 73-0 victory over Scotland.
The team selected for Sunday’s game features the return of Springbok Sevens wing Sampie Mastriet, Golden Lions centre Jaco Taute and Free State Cheetahs flank Fanie van der Walt. The three players are in the side in place of Branco du Preez (centre), Mlungisi Bali (flank) and Sibusiso Sithole (wing). Du Preez and Bali will warm the bench for the Baby Boks, while Sithole drops out of the match 22.
Sauls has opted for a 5-2 split on his bench players and has selected an entire front row combination in his seven reserves. Props Ruan Dreyer and Wessel du Rand who enjoyed solid performances off the bench during the SA Under-20s’ emphatic victory over Scotland, and hooker François du Toit are likely to be used as impact players during the course of the game.
Mastriet will join the exciting back three combination of Patrick Lambie and Wandile Mjekevu. Taute will unite with centre François Venter in the midfield while Van der Walt returns to the loose forward trio which includes SA Under-20 captain CJ Stander and Siyamthanda Kolisi.
Sauls said: “We’ve had a relatively good build up to the Australian game and the players are focused in terms of what is expected of them.
“Like any other World Championship game, we are treating this match as a must-win game in order for us to confirm ourselves as a semifinal contender. But we know Australia are in the same position. They will also be aiming to bag a win on Sunday and secure a semifinal spot. So it’s going to be a close and tough game between two the two southern hemisphere nations.”
South Africa Under-20: 15 Patrick Lambie, 14 Sampie Mastriet, 13 Jaco Taute, 12 François Venter, 11 Wandile Mjekevu, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Louis Schreuder, 8 CJ Stander (captain), 7 Fanie van der Walt, 6 Siya Kolisi, 5 Sebastian de Chaves, 4 Kenny Okafor, 3 Marcel van der Merwe, 2 Monde Hadebe, 1 Brummer Badenhorst.
Replacements: 16 François du Toit, 17 Ruan Dreyer, 18 Wessel du Rand, 19 Mlungisi Bali, 20 Lubabalo Mtembu, 21 Branco du Preez, 22 Nico Scheepers.
Date: Sunday, June 13
Venue: Estadio CA Colon, Santa Fe
Kick-off: 16.10 (19.10 GMT)
Referee: Garratt Williamson (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: John Lacey (Ireland), Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
